THE  SCOTCH-IRISH 
IN  AMERICA 


BY 

HENRY  JONES  FORD 

PROFESSOR  OF  POLITICS  AT  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 


PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY   PRESS 
PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

LONDON:  HUMPHREY  MILFOKD 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

1915 


*&1 


Copyright,  1915,  by 
Princeton  University  Press 

Published  February,  1915 


TO    THE 
PENNSYLVANIA   SCOTCH-IRISH    SOCIETY 


322604 


PREFACE 

Acknowledgment  of  the  importance  of  Ulster 
emigration  to  America  frequently  occurs  in  the 
works  of  English  and  American  historians  deal- 
ing with  the  events  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  a  mass  of  literature  has  accumulated  in  both 
countries  with  regard  to  particular  phases  of  the 
subject.  A  systematic  treatise  devoted  to  that 
special  theme  seemed  to  be  desirable,  and  hence 
the  book  now  before  the  reader. 

This  book  tells  the  story  of  the  Ulster  Planta- 
tion and  of  the  influences  that  formed  the  char- 
acter of  the  people.  The  causes  are  traced  that 
led  to  the  great  migration  from  Ulster  and  the 
Scotch-Irish  settlements  in  America  are  de- 
scribed. The  recital  of  their  experiences  involves 
an  account  of  frontier  manners  and  customs,  and 
of  collisions  with  the  Indian  tribes.  The  influence 
of  the  Scotch-Irish  settlements  upon  American 
institutions  is  traced,  particularly  in  organizing 
and  propagating  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in 
spreading  popular  education,  and  in  promoting 
the  movement  for  American  national  independ- 
ence. In  conclusion,  there  is  an  appreciation  of 
the  Ulster  contribution  to  American  nationality. 

The  work  is  based  upon  original  research. 
The  State  Papers  of  the  period  of  the  Ulster 


PREFACE 

Plantation  were  examined,  with  the  effect  of 
throwing  new  light  upon  an  undertaking  over 
whose  character  and  incidents  there  has  been 
much  controversy.  Historical  material  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  has  been  sifted,  and  pains 
have  been  taken  to  produce  an  authentic  account 
of  the  formation  and  diffusion  of  a  race  stock 
that  has  played  a  great  part  in  establishing  and 
developing  the  American  nation. 

The  author  desires  to  express  his  thanks  to  the 
Rev.  Professor  James  Heron,  of  the  Assembly's 
College,  Belfast,  for  permitting  the  reproduction 
of  his  analysis  of  the  ethnic  origins  of  the  Scottish 
settlers  of  Ulster ;  to  Mr.  Albert  Levin  Richard- 
son of  Baltimore,  for  collections  of  historical  ma- 
terial; to  Professor  Varnum  Lansing  Collins,  of 
Princeton  University,  for  help  in  the  chapter  on 
educational  institutions;  to  Professor  Harry 
Franklin  Covington  of  Princeton  University 
for  data  respecting  Scotch-Irish  settlements  in 
Maryland;  to  the  Hon.  W.  U.  Hensel  of  Lan- 
caster and  to  Judge  Harman  Yerkes  of  Bucks 
County,  Pennsylvania,  for  information;  and  to 
Charles  L.  McKeehan,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Scotch-Irish  Society,  for  much  kind 
assistance  in  reaching  sources  of  information  and 
in  collecting  material. 

Princeton,  February,  1915. 

Note:     The  device  stamped  upon  the  front  of  the  cover  is  the 
heraldic  badge  of  Ulster. 

vi 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Chapter  pAGE 

Preface     v 

I.  The   Ulster  Plantation 2 

II.  The  Land  and  the  People 42 

III.  Scotch   Migration  to  Ulster 80 

IV.  Formative   Influences    129 

V.  Emigration  to  America 165 

VI.  Scotch-Irish  Settlements 209 

VII.  On  the  New  England  Frontier 221 

VIII.  In  New  York  and  the  Jerseys 249 

IX.  Pennsylvania — the  Scotch-Irish  Centre.   260 

X.  The  Indian  Wars 291 

XI.  Planting  the  Church 325 

XII.  On  Stony  Ground 338 

XIII.  The  Source  of  American  Presbyterianism  360 

vii 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

XIV.  Expansion  South  and  West 378 

XV.  Some  Pioneer  Preachers 401 

XVI.  Scotch-Irish    Educational    Institutions.  .  413 

XVII.  The  Spread  of  Popular  Education 447 

XVIII.  The  Revolutionary  Period 458 

XIX.  The  Birth  of  the  Nation 492 

XX.  A  Survey  and  an  Appreciation 520 

Appendices 

A.  Ireland  at  the  Time  of  the  Plantation 541 

B.  The   Scottish   Undertakers 548 

C.  The  Making  of  the  Ulster  Scot 555 

D.  Statement  of  Frontier  Grievances 576 

E.  Galloway's  Account  of  the  American  Revolt  583 

F.  The    Mecklenburg    Resolves 588 

List   of  Authorities   Consulted 593 

Index    597 


viu 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Ulster  Plantation 

In  1609,  six  years  after  the  accession  of  James 
VI.  of  Scotland  to  the  throne  of  England  as 
James  I.  in  its  line  of  kings,  a  scheme  was  ma- 
tured for  planting  Ulster  with  Scotch  and  Eng- 
lish, and  the  following  year  the  settlement  began. 
The  actual  settlers  were  mostly  Scotch,  and  the 
Ulster  plantation  took  the  character  of  a  Scotch 
occupation  of  the  North  of  Ireland.  In  that 
plantation  was  formed  the  breed  known  as 
Scotch-Irish,  which  was  prominent  in  the  strug- 
gle for  American  independence  and  which  sup- 
plied to  American  population  an  ingredient  that 
has  deeply  affected  the  development  of  the  na- 
tion. It  is  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  give  an 
account  of  this  Scotch-Irish  strain  in  the  com- 
position of  the  American  people,  tracing  its 
history  and  influence. 

The  circumstances  in  which  the  Ulster  plan- 
tation was  formed  had  much  to  do  with  fixing 
the  characteristics  of  the  breed.  The  plantation 
was  attended  by  an  ouster  of  native  Irish  that  is 
a  staple  subject  of  censure  by  historians  who, 


THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

from  the  point  of  view  supplied  by  the  ideas  of 
our  own  times,  hold  that  wiser  arrangements 
might  have  been  made  in  the  interest  of  all 
parties.  But  that  was  not  easy  to  see  then. 
Francis  Bacon  is  reckoned  a  wise  man  but  he  did 
not  see  it.  In  a  letter  written  in  1601  to  Cecil, 
Elizabeth's  famous  Secretary  of  State,  Bacon 
referred  to  three  roots  of  trouble  in  Ireland : 

"The  first,  the  ambition  and  absoluteness 
of  the  chiefs  of  the  families  and  septs.  The 
second,  the  licentious  idleness  of  their  kernes 
and  soldiers,  that  lie  upon  the  country  by 
cesses  and  such  like  oppressions.  And  the 
third,  the  barbarous  laws,  customs,  their 
brehon  laws,  habits  of  apparel,  their  poets 
or  heralds  that  enchant  them  in  savage  man- 
ners, and  sundry  other  dregs  of  barbarism 
and  rebellion." 

The  policy  of  making  English  settlements  in 
Ireland  was  no  new  thing.  It  had  been  pursued 
fitfully  from  Norman  times.  Bacon  did  not 
question  it,  but  he  argued  that  further  under- 
takings of  the  kind  should  not  be  left  "as  here- 
tofore, to  the  pleasure  of  Undertakers  and 
adventurers,  where  and  how  to  build  and  plant; 
but  that  they  do  it  according  to  a  prescript  or 
formulary."  In  this  way  the  Government  would 
be  assured  that  the  places  would  be  selected 
"which  are  fittest  for  colonies  or  garrisons,  as 
well  for  doubt  of  the  foreigner,  as  for  keeping 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  3 

the  country  in  bridle."  Bacon  had  the  matter  so 
much  on  his  mind  that  in  1606  he  presented  to 
King  James  Considerations  Touching  the  Plan- 
tation in  Ireland  written  in  the  highest  style  of 
his  stately  eloquence.  He  said  that  among  the 
works  of  kings  two  "have  the  supreme  pre- 
eminence :  the  union,  and  the  plantation  of  king- 
doms." By  a  singular  favor  of  Divine  Providence 
"both  these  kinds  of  foundations  or  regenera- 
tions" had  been  put  into  the  hands  of  King 
James:  "the  one,  in  the  union  of  the  island  of 
Britain;  the  other  in  the  plantation  of  great  and 
noble  parts  of  the  island  of  Ireland."  Adorning 
his  periods  with  elaborate  metaphors  in  which 
figured  the  harp  of  Ireland,  the  harp  of  Orpheus 
and  the  harp  of  David,  Bacon  expatiated  upon 
the  greatness  of  the  achievement  "when  people 
of  barbarous  manners  are  brought  to  give  over 
and  discontinue  their  customs  of  revenge  and 
blood,  of  dissolute  life,  and  of  theft,  and  of 
rapine;  and  to  give  ear  to  the  wisdom  of  laws 
and  governments." 

At  the  time  this  discourse  was  written  the 
property  of  the  Crown  in  Ulster  consisted  chiefly 
of  the  abbey  lands,  and  plans  were  under  con- 
sideration for  settling  English  and  Scotch  colo- 
nists upon  these  lands  while  the  Irish  lords 
retained  their  lands  with  English  title  and  under 
English  law.    But  so  important  did  the  planta- 


4  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

tion  appear  to  Bacon,  even  although  thus  limited, 
that  he  suggested  that  the  King,  the  better  to 
express  his  "affection  to  the  enterprise,  and  for 
a  pledge  thereof,"  should  add  the  Earldom  of 
Ulster  to  the  titles  of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 
Bacon  went  on  to  discuss  in  detail  the  principles 
that  should  govern  the  enterprise.  He  thought 
that  "the  generality  of  Undertakers"  should  be 
"men  of  estate  and  plenty,"  not  that  they  would 
go  there  themselves  but  that  they  would  have 
means  to  engage  in  the  business  for  the  "advance- 
ment of  their  younger  children  or  kinsfolks;  or 
for  the  sweetness  of  the  expectation  of  a  great 
bargain  in  the  end."  As  incentives  the  lands 
should  be  let  to  them  on  easy  rates  and  large 
liberties.  Upon  the  latter  point  Bacon  promptly 
explains  that  he  does  not  mean  liberties  of  juris- 
diction which  "hath  been  the  error  of  the  ancient 
donations  and  plantations  in  that  country."  He 
means  only  "liberties  tending  to  commodity;  as 
liberty  to  transport  any  of  the  commodities  grow- 
ing upon  the  countries  new  planted;  liberty  to 
import  from  hence  all  things  appertaining  to 
their  necessary  use,  custom-free."  If  this  wise 
advice  had  been  acted  upon  consistently  the 
course  of  Irish  and  American  history  would  have 
been  different. 

At  this  time  the  colonization  of  Virginia  was 
appealing  for  support,  but  in  comparison  with 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  5 

the  Ulster  project  the  Virginia  plantation 
seemed  so  visionary  that  Bacon  referred  to  it  as 
"an  enterprise  in  my  opinion  differing  as  much 
from  this,  as  Amadis  de  Gaul  differs  from 
Caesar's  Commentaries. "  He  struck  the  same 
note  in  1617  when  as  Lord  Chancellor  of  Eng- 
land he  addressed  the  person  called  to  be  Lord 
Chief  Justice  of  Ireland.  Bacon  remarked  that 
"Ireland  is  the  last  ex  filiis  Europae  which  hath 
been  reclaimed  from  desolation  and  a  desert  (in 
many  parts)  to  population  and  plantation;  and 
from  savage  and  barbarous  customs  to  humanity 
and  civility."  He  commended  the  plantations 
to  the  special  care  of  the  new  justice,  with  the 
admonition:  "You  are  to  be  a  master  builder, 
and  a  master  planter,  and  reducer  of  Ireland." 

Bacon's  views  have  been  considered  at  some 
length  because  they  illumine  the  ideas  with  which 
the  statesmanship  of  the  age  approached  such 
tasks,  and  also  reveal  the  origin  of  some  charac- 
teristic features  of  the  Ulster  plantation.  To 
Bacon's  view  the  tribal  system  of  Ireland  with 
its  state  of  chronic  disorder  was  a  remnant  of  the 
same  barbarism  against  which  Caesar  fought  in 
Gaul  and  Charlemagne  in  continental  Europe. 
The  planting  of  trusty  colonies  among  uncivilized 
peoples  as  garrisons  to  check  their  insubordina- 
tion and  as  centers  from  which  culture  would  be 
diffused  was  a  practice  that  went  back  to  the 


6  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

times  of  the  ancient  Roman  commonwealth,  had 
been  adopted  by  many  European  rulers,  and  was 
generally  regarded  as  a  well-settled  expedient  of 
prudent  statesmanship.  Nothing  in  Bacon's  re- 
marks indicates  any  doubt  in  his  mind  as  to  the 
rightfulness  of  such  a  policy  in  Ireland,  although 
it  necessarily  involved  dispossession  of  natives. 
His  only  concern  was  to  adopt  such  measures  as 
would  make  the  policy  efficacious.  Moreover  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  that  time  the 
feudal  principle  that  the  tenure  of  land  is  con- 
tingent upon  personal  service  to  the  State  had 
not  been  overborne  by  the  notions  of  individual 
ownership  and  exclusive  right  that  have  since  be- 
come dominant,  although  in  our  own  times  there 
are  signs  of  reaction.  It  seemed  altogether  fit- 
ting that  rebels  and  traitors  should  be  ejected 
and  that  the  land  should  be  placed  in  charge  of 
those  upon  whom  the  King  could  rely  when  he 
called  for  service.  At  the  bottom  of  land  tenure 
was  a  personal  relation  between  the  King  and 
his  liege.  The  State  in  its  modern  aspect  as  a 
sovereign  authority  deriving  its  revenues  from 
systematic  taxation  and  regulating  rights  and 
duties  by  positive  law  was  in  process  of  forma- 
tion but  it  was  not  fully  developed  until  long 
after  the  period  of  the  Ulster  plantation. 

The  effect  of  Bacon's  advice  in  the  Ulster  ar- 
rangements is  distinctly  marked.    To  it  seems  to 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  7 

be  due  one  of  the  existing  orders  of  English  no- 
bility. Bacon  deemed  it  so  important  "to  allure 
by  all  means  fit  Undertakers"  that  in  the  me- 
morial of  1606  he  suggested  that  grants  of 
knighthood,  "with  some  new  difference  and  pre- 
cedence," might  "work  with  many"  in  drawing 
them  to  the  support  of  the  cause.  Action  taken 
by  the  King  early  in  1611  accords  with  Bacon's 
advice.  The  order  of  baronets,  officially  de- 
scribed as  "a  new  dignitie  between  Barons  and 
Knights,"  was  instituted,  to  consist  of  gentlemen 
who  should  bind  themselves  to  pay  a  sum  suffi- 
cient to  maintain  thirty  foot-soldiers  in  Ireland 
for  three  years,  the  money  thus  obtained  to  be 
kept  as  a  special  fund  so  that  it  might  be  "wholly 
converted  to  that  use  for  which  it  was  given  and 
intended."  The  first  of  these  baronets  was 
Bacon's  own  half-brother,  and  it  appears  that 
Bacon  advised  the  King  on  points  raised  touching 
the  dignity  and  precedence  of  the  new  order  of 
nobility.  There  have  been  many  flings  at  James 
I.  in  this  matter  of  the  institution  of  the  order 
of  baronet — it  seems  to  have  a  special  attraction 
for  the  sarcasm  of  writers  of  popular  history — 
but  the  record  shows  that  it  was  inspired  by 
Bacon  and  was  performed  by  the  King  as  a 
utilitarian  transaction  quite  in  the  modern  spirit. 
A  similar  creation  of  baronets  was  planned  by 
King  James  in  1624  in  aid  of  the  colonization 


8  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

of  Nova  Scotia,  the  fundamental  condition  being 
that  each  baronet  of  this  class  should  maintain 
six  colonists  for  two  years.  The  two  classes  are 
still  distinguished  in  their  heraldry,  all  baronets 
having  the  right  to  bear  the  Red  Hand  of  Ulster 
on  their  coat  of  arms,  except  those  of  the  Nova 
Scotian  creation  who  display  the  arms  of  Scot- 
land. The  order  of  baronet,  although  ranking 
below  other  orders  of  nobility  in  dignity  and 
precedence,  may  justly  claim  to  possess  a  dis- 
tinctly imperial  character. 

Not  long  after  Bacon's  memorial  to  the  King 
the  possibilities  in  Ulster  were  enlarged  by  a 
series  of  events  which  at  the  same  time  empha- 
sized the  need  of  vigorous  measures.  These 
events  serve  also  to  illustrate  the  clash  of  cultures 
that  was  the  underlying  cause  of  Irish  anarchy. 
The  accession  of  James  took  place  just  as  an 
uprising  aided  by  Spanish  troops  had  been  sub- 
dued after  more  than  four  years  of  hard  righting. 
The  submission  of  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  the 
chief  native  magnate  of  Ulster,  whose  surrender 
ended  resistance  in  that  province,  took  place 
only  a  few  days  before  James  set  out  from  Edin- 
burgh to  take  possession  of  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land to  which  he  had  just  been  called.  The 
Irish  situation  presented  an  urgent  problem  to 
James  and  his  counsellors.  That  problem,  in 
addition  to  its  chronic  perplexities  arising  from 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  9 

internal  conditions,  was  complicated  by  foreign 
influences.  The  Counter-Reformation  was 
prosecuted  with  great  vigor  and  success  by 
Jesuit  missionaries  in  Ireland  and  their  plans  of 
making  the  country  an  independent  kingdom 
gained  the  sympathy  of  Pope  Gregory  XIII., 
who  accepted  the  Crown  of  Ireland  in  behalf  of 
a  nephew.  The  movement  acquired  serious  im- 
portance when  Philip  II.  of  Spain  gave  support 
to  it.  He  was  not  inclined  at  first  to  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  Irish  as  he  was  embittered 
by  the  way  in  which  crews  of  wrecked  galleons 
of  the  Armada  had  been  robbed  and  murdered 
on  the  western  coast  of  Ireland.  But  English 
attacks  on  the  coasts  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  and 
the  support  which  Elizabeth  extended  to  the 
provinces  of  the  Netherlands  in  revolt  against 
his  rule,  reconciled  him  to  alliances  with  Irish 
insurgents,  and  twice  during  Elizabeth's  reign 
Spanish  forces  were  landed  in  Ireland.  Hugh 
O'Neill,  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  took  a  leading  part 
in  the  dealings  with  Spain,  and  he  received  from 
the  Pope  a  crown  of  peacock's  feathers.  In 
making  his  submission  he  had  stipulated  for  the 
retention  of  his  Earldom,  with  its  territorial  juris- 
diction in  Ulster,  although  renouncing  his  Celtic 
chiefry.  This  was  done  before  he  had  heard  of 
Elizabeth's  death,  and  on  hearing  the  news  he 
is  said  to  have  cried  with  vexation  at  not  having 


10  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

held  out  for  better  terms.  With  such  an  atti- 
tude on  his  part  there  was  an  instability  in  the 
Ulster  situation,  soon  to  be  displayed. 

A  difficulty  with  which  the  Government  had 
constantly  to  contend  arose  from  the  conflicts 
among  the  Irish  themselves.  The  chiefs  argued 
that  the  land  belonged  to  them;  the  occupants 
protested  that  the  land  was  theirs  although  the 
chiefs  had  a  customary  right  to  various  services 
and  dues  in  kind.  The  chiefs  quarreled  among 
themselves  as  to  their  rights.  Tyrone  was  in- 
censed against  his  principal  vassal,  O'Cahan, 
who  had  made  his  submission  before  Tyrone 
gave  him  leave.  O'Cahan's  feudal  rent,  for- 
merly fixed  at  21  cows  a  year,  was  summarily 
raised  to  200  cows.  In  support  of  this  demand 
Tyrone  took  possession  of  a  large  district  be- 
longing to  O'Cahan.  When  O'Cahan  made  his 
peace  with  the  Government  he  had  been  assured 
that  he  should  in  future  hold  his  lands  not  from 
Tyrone  but  directly  from  the  Crown.  O'Cahan 
appealed  to  the  authorities  at  Dublin,  but  it  was 
difficult  to  get  Tyrone  to  appear  to  answer  the 
charges.  When  he  did  so  he  insulted  the  Lord 
Deputy  and  Council  by  snatching  the  papers 
from  O'Cahan's  hand  and  tearing  them  to 
pieces.  Eventually  the  King  decided  to  hear 
the  case  in  England,  but  instead  of  obeying  the 
summons    Tyrone   fled   the   country,    never   to 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  11 

return.  This  action  was  quite  unexpected  by 
the  Government  as  Tyrone  had  been  demanding 
that  he  be  allowed  to  plead  his  cause  before  the 
King  in  person.  The  affair  has  never  been  fully 
cleared  up  but  it  is  known  that  the  Government 
had  received  information  that  arrangements 
were  making  for  another  rising  with  Spanish 
aid  and  that  Rory  O'Donnell,  Earl  of  Tyrcon- 
nel,  was  in  the  movement.  This  information  did 
not  mention  Tyrone;  but  his  cousin,  Cuconnaught 
Maguire,  who  was  in  the  plot  and  who  had  just 
gone  to  Brussels  on  its  business,  heard  there  that 
it  had  been  discovered.  Maguire  procured  a  ship 
with  which  he  sailed  to  the  North  of  Ireland  and 
on  September  4,  1607,  took  off  both  Tyrconnel 
and  Tyrone.  This  was  the  famous  Flight  of 
the  Earls  by  which  a  great  part  of  Ulster  was 
escheated  to  the  English  Crown.  Those  were 
times  when  the  more  strong  and  active  spirits 
among  the  masses  of  the  people  preferred  to 
live  as  fighting  men  and  raiders  rather  than  as 
industrial  drudges,  and  bands  began  operations 
in  various  districts.  O'Cahan  himself  became 
disaffected,  owing  to  some  claims  of  the  Bishop 
of  Derry  to  lands  in  O'Cahan's  territory.  He 
drove  the  bishop's  tax  gatherers  off  the  disputed 
lands,  defied  writs  of  law  and  did  not  submit 
until  a  body  of  troops  was  about  to  march  on 
his  castle. 


12  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

While  these  events  were  taking  place  a  clash 
occurred  between  the  English  commander  at 
Derry  and  a  neighboring  Irish  lord  that  culmi- 
nated in  another  insurrection.  Sir  George 
Paulet,  commander  at  Derry,  was  a  dull,  incap- 
able and  arrogant  person  who  had  obtained  the 
command  by  purchase.  In  one  of  the  Lord 
Deputy's  reports  to  the  home  Government  it  is 
said  of  him  that  "he  was  hated  by  those  over 
whom  he  had  command,  and  neither  beloved  nor 
feared  by  the  Irish,  his  neighbors."  O'Dogherty, 
lord  of  Innishowen,  collected  a  number  of  his 
followers  to  fell  timber.  A  rumor  reached 
Paulet  that  O'Dogherty  was  out  to  await  the 
return  of  Tyrone,  and  Paulet  marched  on 
O'Dogherty's  castle.  Although  O'Dogherty 
was  away,  his  wife  refused  to  open  the  gates  and 
showed  such  an  undaunted  spirit  that  Paulet 
had  to  choose  between  attempting  a  siege  with 
an  inadequate  force  or  marching  home  again, 
and  chose  the  latter.  O'Dogherty  wrote  a  sharp 
letter  of  complaint  to  Paulet,  but  it  was  in  re- 
spectful language  and  was  subscribed  "your  lov- 
ing friend."  Paulet  sent  a  railing  letter  in  reply, 
closing  with  the  declaration:  "So  wishing  con- 
fusion to  your  actions,  I  leave  you  to  a  provost 
marshal  and  his  halter."  Although  O'Dogherty 
was  greatly  incensed  he  did  not  refuse  to  present 
himself  at  Dublin  to  answer  for  his  conduct ;  and 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  13 

soon  afterward  he  acted  as  foreman  of  the  Done- 
gal grand  jury  that  found  bills  for  high  treason 
against  the  fugitive  Earls.  O'Dogherty,  who  was 
young  and  hot-headed,  was  worked  upon  by 
others  so  that  at  last  he  did  engage  in  a  plot  that 
enabled  him  to  take  vengeance  on  Paulet.  The 
details  of  this  affair  are  particularly  instructive 
from  the  revelation  they  make  of  the  sort  of  ex- 
periences that  colored  Ulster  traditions  and 
stamped  the  character  of  the  Ulster  breed. 

O'Dogherty's  first  task  was  to  procure  a  sup- 
ply of  arms  and  ammunition  to  use  against 
Paulet.  He  approached  Captain  Henry  Hart, 
commander  of  the  fort  of  Culmore  guarding  the 
entrance  to  the  Foyle,  with  complaints  that  the 
attitude  of  the  ladies  of  Derry  deprived  his  wife 
of  society  suitable  to  her  rank.  He  asked  Cap- 
tain Hart  to  set  a  good  example  of  social  inter- 
course by  coming  to  dine  with  him  bringing 
also  Mrs.  Hart  and  the  children.  The  request 
accorded  with  the  conciliatory  policy  of  the 
Government  and  the  invitation  was  unsuspect- 
ingly accepted.  As  soon  as  dinner  was  over 
O'Dogherty  threatened  Hart  with  instant  death 
unless  he  would  agree  to  surrender  the  fort. 
Hart,  a  man  of  the  bull-dog  breed,  flatly  refused. 
His  wife  and  children  were  brought  before  him 
and  threatened  with  death;  his  wife  fell  at  his 
feet  on  her  knees,  crying  and  beseeching  him  to 


14  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

yield.  It  was  urged  that  by  so  doing  he  would 
save  the  garrison  too,  as  all  would  be  killed  if 
force  had  to  be  used  whereas  all  would  be  spared 
if  the  post  were  quietly  surrendered.  O'Dogh- 
erty  offered  to  take  a  solemn  oath  that  he  would 
carry  out  his  promise.  Hart  reminded  him  that 
he  was  even  then  breaking  the  oath  of  allegiance 
he  had  taken  not  long  beforehand  bluntly  de- 
clared that  he  "should  never  trust  oath  that  ever 
he  made  again."  But  while  O'Dogherty  failed 
to  budge  Captain  Hart,  he  gained  his  end  by  the 
aid  of  the  Captain's  wife.  In  her  terror  for  her 
husband  and  her  children  Mrs.  Hart  entered  into 
a  scheme  for  betraying  the  garrison.  Accom- 
panied by  O'Dogherty  and  his  men,  she  went  to 
the  fort  at  nightfall,  crying  out  that  the  Captain 
had  fallen  from  his  horse  and  had  broken  his  arm. 
The  little  garrison  ran  out  to  help  their  com- 
mander and  O'Dogherty  rushed  in  and  took 
possession. 

v  These  events  took  place  on  April  18,  1608. 
Having  obtained  the  arms  he  needed,  O'Dogh- 
erty set  out  at  once  to  attack  Paulet  at  Derry. 
Although  that  commander  had  been  warned  of 
danger,  he  had  not  taken  any  precautions  and 
habitually  neglected  even  such  routine  duty  as 
the  posting  of  sentries.  O'Dogherty's  men  were 
inside  the  fortifications  before  the  noise  roused 
Paulet.    He  ran  out  of  his  own  house  and  hid  in 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  15 

one  of  the  other  houses  where  he  was  finally  dis- 
covered and  killed.  The  surprise  was  so  com- 
plete that  the  garrison  was  not  able  to  make 
much  resistance,  but  Lieutenant  Baker  with 
about  140  persons,  men,  women,  and  children, 
took  possession  of  two  large  houses  and  held  out 
until  noon  on  the  following  day.  By  that  time 
provisions  had  run  short  and  O'Dogherty  had 
brought  up  a  cannon  from  Culmore,  so  Baker 
surrendered  upon  the  promise  that  the  lives  of  all 
with  him  should  be  spared.  This  promise  was 
fulfilled.  O'Dogherty  slew  no  prisoners  and  in 
the  course  of  his  short  rebellion  no  blood  was 
shed  by  his  orders  except  in  actual  conflict. 

As  soon  as  the  Government  was  able  to  throw 
troops  into  the  country  O'Dogherty's  lieuten- 
ants abandoned  Derry  and  Culmore,  after  set- 
ting them  on  fire.  The  rebellion  was  never  really 
formidable  although  O'Dogherty's  energetic 
movements  carried  it  into  several  counties.  His 
forces  were  finally  routed  and  he  himself  was 
killed  on  July  5,  1608.  In  a  report  to  the  home 
Government  Sir  John  Davies,  Attorney- General 
of  Ireland,  noted  that  O'Dogherty's  death  "hap- 
pened not  only  on  the  fifth  day  of  the  month,  but 
on  a  Tuesday,  but  the  Tuesday  11  weeks,  that  is 
77  days  after  the  burning  of  Derry,  which  is  an 
ominous  number  being  seven  elevens  and  eleven 
sevens."    The  special  mention  of  Tuesday  in  this 


16  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

collection  of  portents  is  an  allusion  to  an  old 
proverb  that  Tuesday  is  the  day  of  English  luck 
in  Ireland. 

In  consequence  of  these  events  vast  areas  were 
escheated  to  the  Crown,  including  most  of  the 
territory  now  forming  the  counties  of  Donegal, 
Londonderry,  Tyrone,  Fermanagh,  Armagh  and 
Cavan.     It  was  the  good  fortune  of  the  Ulster 
plantation  that  the  man  then  at  the  head  of  the 
Irish  Government  as  Lord  Deputy  was  an  ad- 
ministrator of  rare  ability.    Sir  Arthur  Chiches- 
ter, the  Lord  Deputy,  is  a  typical  specimen  of 
the  class  of  proconsuls  whose  solid  characteristics 
have  been  the  building  material  of  the  British 
Empire.     He  was  born  in  1563,  the  second  son 
of  Sir  John  Chichester  of  Ramleigh,  near  Barn- 
staple, Devonshire.    He  was  educated  at  Exeter 
College,  Oxford;  was  an  officer  in  one  of  the 
Queen's  best  ships  in  the  fight  with  the  Spanish 
Armada  in  1588;  in  1595  he  was  employed  in  a 
military  command  in  Drake's  unfortunate  last 
expedition  to  the  West  Indies,  and  the  next  year 
he  commanded  a  company  in  the  expedition  of 
Essex  that  captured  Cadiz;  in  1597  he  was  third 
in  command  of  a  force  sent  to  the  assistance  of 
Henry  IV.  of  France,  was  wounded  at  the  siege 
of  Amiens  and  was  subsequently  knighted.    He 
afterward  served  in  the  Netherlands  and  was 
in  garrison  at  Ostend  when  he  was  summoned  to 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  17 

duty  in  Ireland,  in  command  of  a  force  of  1,200 
men.  The  record  shows  that  although  only 
thirty-six  when  he  began  his  distinguished  career 
in  Ireland,  he  was  a  veteran  thoroughly  seasoned 
by  land  and  by  sea.  A  characteristic  instance  of 
his  determination  in  all  matters  of  discipline  took 
place  soon  after  Essex  arrived  in  Ireland  as  head 
of  its  Administration  by  Elizabeth's  personal 
favor.  Having  heard  of  the  good  order  in  which 
Chichester  kept  his  force,  Essex  went  to  Drog- 
heda  to  review  it.  Carried  away  by  excitement 
the  scatterbrain  Earl  led  a  cavalry  charge  against 
the  pikemen.  Chichester  repulsed  the  horsemen 
as  if  they  had  been  actual  enemies,  and  the  Earl 
himself  was  scratched  by  a  slash  from  a  pike  that 
made  him  wheel  about  and  retreat.  Essex  took 
the  affair  in  good  part  and  on  April  28,  1599, 
appointed  Chichester  to  be  governor  of  Carrick- 
fergus  and  the  adjacent  country.  Chichester 
took  an  active  but  subordinate  part  in  the  war 
waged  against  Tyrone  and  his  adherents.  On 
April  19,  1603,  shortly  after  the  accession  of 
James,  Chichester  was  made  a  member  of  the 
Irish  Privy  Council;  and  on  October  15,  1604,  he 
was  appointed  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland,  although 
not  inducted  into  office  until  February  3,  1605. 
The  appointment  may  be  ascribed  to  the  influ- 
ence of  a  predecessor  in  that  office,  Mount  joy, 
who  was  now  Earl  of  Devonshire  and  the  King's 


18  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

chief  adviser  on  Irish  affairs,  and  who  well  knew 
the  need  there  was  for  a  strong  hand  and  a  cool 
head  at  the  helm  in  Ireland.  Chichester  himself 
did  not  seek  the  office.  About  five  months  after 
assuming  it  he  wrote  to  the  home  Government 
that  it  would  be  advisable  to  put  a  more  eminent 
man  at  the  head  of  affairs,  "a  man  of  his 
[Chichester's]  estate  and  fortune  being  better  fit 
to  serve  His  Majesty  in  meaner  places." 

The  perusal  of  Chichester's  State  Papers  im- 
presses one  with  his  virtue  in  the  Roman  sense 
of  hard  manliness.  His  concern  was  always  for 
the  discharge  of  his  professional  duty;  and  that 
formed  his  moral  horizon. '  He  chose  means  with 
regard  to  their  efficacy  in  attaining  practical  re- 
sults, offering  rewards  for  the  heads  of  rebel 
chiefs,  slaying  their  active  partisans  and  wasting 
the  land  on  occasion,  but  never  indulging  pur- 
poseless cruelty.  He  had  a  low  opinion  of  the 
character  of  the  native  Irish,  but  he  had  no  ani- 
mosity and  was  more  disposed  to  adopt  concilia- 
tory measures  than  the  home  Government. 
Indeed,  his  disapproval  of  measures  to  force  the 
Roman  Catholics  into  the  Established  Church 
eventually  led  to  his  retirement.  While  bent  on 
repressing  disorder  and  bringing  the  Irish  chiefs 
under  the  rule  of  law,  he  was  also  vigilant  against 
abuses  in  the  administration  and  spared  no  one. 
He  advised  Montgomery,  the  Bishop  of  Derry, 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  19 

"sometimes  to  leave  the  care  of  the  world,  to 
which  he  thought  him  too  much  affected,  and  to 
attend  to  his  pastoral  calling  and  the  reformation 
of  his  clergy."  He  showed  great  powers  of  sus- 
tained application  to  the  literary  tasks  in  which 
his  position  involved  him,  and  his  numerous  State 
Papers  are  full,  clear,  and  precise.  In  view  of 
his  previous  career  this  side  of  his  activity  is  re- 
markable, for  he  handles  the  pen  with  a  readiness 
unusual  in  the  captains  of  that  age.  In  filing 
dispatches  from  the  home  Government  he  not 
only  endorsed  them  with  the  date  on  which  they 
were  received  but  also  added  a  summary  of  their 
contents,  in  a  handwriting  remarkably  bold,  clear 
and  regular.  The  information  gathered  by  his 
spies  included  stories  of  plots  to  make  away  with 
him  by  assassination  or  poisoning,  but  to  alarms 
of  that  sort  he  appears  to  have  been  incredulous 
and  callous.  In  the  camp  or  in  the  office  he  was 
ever  ready,  clear-headed  and  sensible.  In  the 
plantation  of  Ulster  he  received  a  large  grant  of 
land  and  in  1613  he  was  raised  to  the  Irish 
peerage  as  Lord  Chichester  of  Belfast.  He  had 
no  children  and  his  estates  devolved  on  his 
brother,  Edward,  father  of  Arthur  Chichester, 
first  Earl  of  Donegal. 

Another  official  whose  copious  and  vivid  writ- 
ings add  greatly  to  our  knowledge  of  this  period 
is  Sir  John  Davies.    The  modernized  spelling  of 


20  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

his  name  is  here  used  although  in  the  Irish  Calen- 
dars it  appears  as  Davys.  He  was  born  in  Wilt- 
shire, England,  in  1569  and  took  his  A.B.  degree 
at  Oxford  in  1590.  His  poetical  works  hold  an 
established  place  in  English  literature  and  his 
literary  ability  gives  a  distinctive  lustre  to  his 
official  papers,  but  in  Ireland  he  figures  as  a 
hard-working  administrator.  He  arrived  in 
1603  to  assume  the  office  of  Solicitor- General. 
In  1606  he  succeeded  to  the  post  of  Attorney- 
General.  From  first  to  last  he  took  an  active 
and  prominent  part  in  the  Ulster  plantation. 
He  was  a  man  of  high  personal  courage  and  of 
versatile  ability,  a  fine  poet,  a  voluminous  es- 
sayist on  legal,  antiquarian  and  historical  sub- 
jects, an  eloquent  speaker  and  a  vigorous  man 
of  action.  He  held  office  in  Ireland  until  1619 
and  died  in  England  in  1626,  after  he  had  been 
appointed  Lord  Chief  Justice  but  before  he  had 
assumed  the  office. 

The  scheme  adopted  for  the  plantation  of 
Ulster  was  not  the  invention  of  anyone  but  was 
the  outcome  of  the  statesmanship  of  the  age. 
Just  such  ideas  as  Bacon  expressed  in  his  Con- 
siderations presented  to  King  James  run  all 
through  the  State  Papers  of  this  period.  So  early 
as  October  2,  1605,  long  before  the  Flight  of  the 
Earls,  Chichester  wrote  that  the  situation  "can 
only  be  remedied  by  planting  of  English  and 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  21 

others  well  affected  in  fit  places."  Chichester 
held  that  none  of  the  fields  in  which  colonization 
was  then  projected  equalled  Ireland.  He  re- 
marks that  he  "knows  of  many  who  endeavor 
the  finding  out  of  Virginia,  Guiana,  and  other 
remote  and  unknown  countries,  and  leave  this 
of  our  own  waste  and  desolate,  which  needs  be 
an  absurd  folly  or  wilful  ignorance."  The  allu- 
sion to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  projects  is  trans- 
parent. As  a  matter  of  fact  both  the  Ulster  and 
the  Virginia  plantations  took  root  and  bore 
abundantly,  each  deeply  affecting  the  other's 
destiny.  On  September  17,  1607,  less  than  a  fort- 
night after  the  Flight  of  the  Earls,  Chichester 
advised  the  English  Privy  Council  that  to  bring 
Ulster  to  any  settled  state  of  order  it  would  be 
necessary  either  to  plant  strong  "colonies  of  civil 
people  of  England  or  Scotland"  or  else  drive  out 
the  wild  Irishmen  to  the  waste  lands  "leaving 
only  such  people  behind  as  will  dwell  under  the 
protection  of  the  garrisons  and  forts  which 
would  be  made  strong  and  defensible."  He 
strongly  recommended  the  former  course  al- 
though he  held  the  latter  to  be  justifiable.  At 
that  period  "civil"  had  a  significance  for  which 
the  term  "civilized"  would  now  be  employed. 
The  term  "civilization"  did  not  get  into  the  vo- 
cabulary until  long  afterward,  and  so  late  as 
1772  it  was  resisted  by  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  as 


22  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

an  unnecessary  innovation  which  he  refused  to 
admit  into  his  dictionary.  When  Bacon  and 
Chichester  spoke  of  introducing  civility  into  Ire- 
land they  had  in  mind  substituting  legally  or- 
ganized communities  for  the  tribal  groups. 

The  home  Government  was  quite  ready  to  act 
upon  the  suggestion  and  the  response  was 
prompt  and  decided.  The  Chief  Secretary  of 
State  was  Robert  Cecil,  a  cousin  of  Francis 
Bacon.  Cecil  had  served  Elizabeth  as  Secretary 
of  State  and  had  been  continued  in  the  position 
with  augmented  power  by  James,  who  in  1605 
conferred  upon  him  the  title  of  Earl  of  Salisbury. 
In  advance  of  the  action  of  the  English  Privy 
Council,  Salisbury  wrote  to  Chichester  assuring 
him  of  support  and  on  September  29,  1607,  the 
ground  plan  of  the  Ulster  plantation  was  thus 
formulated  in  a  communication  from  the  Privy 
Council  to  Chichester: 

"For  the  plantation  which  is  to  follow 
upon  attainder,  the  King  in  general  ap- 
proves of  his  (Chichester's)  project,  being 
resolved  to  make  a  mixture  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, as  well  Irish  as  English  and  Scotch; 
to  respect  and  favor  the  Irish  that  are  of 
good  note  and  desert,  and  to  make  him 
(Chichester)  specially  judge  thereof;  to 
prefer  English  that  are  and  have  been  servi- 
tors before  any  new  men  from  hence;  to 
assign  places  of  most  importance  to  men  of 
best  trust;  and  generally  to  observe  these 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  23 

two  cautions ; — first,  that  such  as  be  planted 
there  be  not  needy,  but  of  a  reasonable  suf- 
ficiency to  maintain  their  portions ;  secondly, 
that  none  shall  have  a  vast,  but  only  a  rea- 
sonable proportion;  much  less  that  any  one 
of  either  nation  shall  be  master  of  a  whole 
country.  But  before  this  plantation  can  be 
digested  and  executed,  much  must  be  pre- 
pared by  himself  (Chichester),  as  His 
Majesty  is  to  be  better  informed  of  the  lands 
to  be  divided;  what  countries  are  most  meet 
to  be  inhabited ;  what  Irish  fit  to  be  trusted ; 
what  English  meet  for  that  plantation  in 
Ireland;  what  offers  are  or  will  be  made 
there ;  what  estates  are  fit  to  be  granted ;  and 
what  is  to  be  done  for  the  conviction  of  the 
fugitives,  because  there  is  no  possession  or 
estate  to  be  given  before  their  attainder." 

The  tenor  of  official  dispatches  makes  it  clear 
that  the  Flight  of  the  Earls  was  regarded  as  a 
good  opportunity  for  radical  treatment  of  the 
Ulster  situation,  "that  those  countries  be  made 
the  King's  by  this  accident,"  to  use  Salisbury's 
own  words.  By  the  term  "servitors"  is  meant 
officers  in  the  King's  service  in  Ireland,  who 
knew  the  country  and  had  had  experience  in 
dealing  with  the  natives.  The  need  of  careful 
management  was  appreciated  by  the  Govern- 
ment, for  in  the  preceding  reign  three  attempts 
had  been  made  at  Ulster  colonization,  all  ending 
in  total  failure.  These  had  been  in  the  nature 
of  grants  of  territory  to  individual  adventurers 


X 

24  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

who  undertook  to  take  possession  and  bring  in 
tenants,  but  who  were  unable  to  overcome  the 
resistance  of  the  native  Irish,  desperately  op- 
posed to  the  intrusion  of  individual  holdings  in 
their  tribal  territory.  The  Government  was  de- 
termined that  the  next  attempt  of  the  kind  should 
be  made  in  sufficient  force. 

The  information  demanded  by  the  home  Gov- 
ernment was  submitted  under  date  of  January 
23,  1608,  in  "a  project  for  the  division  and  plan- 
tation of  the  escheated  lands,"  etc.,  prepared  by 
the  Privy  Council  of  Ireland.  This  is  a  long 
document  in  which  for  the  first  time  the  planta- 
tion scheme  took  definite  form.  It  included  a 
schedule  of  available  lands  in  the  six  escheated 
counties,  with  a  scheme  of  allotment.  The  dif- 
ferent classes  of  Undertakers  and  the  size  of  their 
holdings  to  be  allowed  to  them  were  designated, 
and  the  main  points  of  the  scheme  as  finally  car- 
ried into  effect  were  set  forth. 

Not  long  after  the  transmission  of  this  project 
the  O'Dogherty  rebellion  broke  out.  With  its 
suppression  work  on  the  project  was  resumed 
and  in  September,  1608,  Chichester  prepared  a 
detailed  statement  entitled  Certain  Notes  of 
Remembrances  Touching  the  Plantation  and 
Settlement  of  the  Escheated  Lands  in  Ulster, 
which  he  gave  to  Chief  Justice  Ley  and  Attorney- 
General  Davies  as  their  instructions  in  sending 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  25 

them  to  England  to  confer  with  the  King  and 
Privy  Council.  This  was  a  soldier's  review  of 
the  Ulster  situation,  county  by  county,  noting 
the  force  and  disposition  of  the  natives,  and 
mentioning  the  places  that  should  be  strongly 
occupied  to  guard  the  peace  of  the  plantation. 

The  outcome  of  these  reports  and  conferences 
was  the  publication  of  Orders  and  Conditions  To 
Be  Observed  by  the  Undertakers  issued  by 
the  King  and  Privy  Council  in  March,  1609. 
The  preamble  sets  forth  that  "many  persons 
being  ignorant  of  the  conditions  whereupon  His 
Majesty  is  pleased  to  grant  the  said  land  are  im- 
portunate suitors  for  greater  portions  than  they 
are  able  to  plant,  intending  their  private  profit 
only  and  not  the  advancement  of  the  public  ser- 
vice." The  orders  then  set  forth  conditions  of 
allotment  and  occupation  similar  in  general  to 
those  proposed  in  the  project  of  January  23, 
1608,  framed  by  the  Irish  Privy  Council. 

From  now  on  the  course  of  events  spreads  out 
in  Ireland,  England  and  Scotland,  and  an  at- 
tempt to  follow  chronological  order  would  con- 
fuse the  narrative.  A  chronology  appended  to 
this  chapter  gives  the  sequence  of  events,  but 
comment  upon  them  can  be  made  most  con- 
veniently by  a  topical  arrangement. 

While  the  home  Government  was  arranging  to 
get  responsible  Undertakers,  the  Irish  Adminis- 


26  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

tration  was  busy  getting  the  lands  ready  for 
occupation.  On  July  21,  1609,  a  new  commis- 
sion, with  Chichester  himself  at  the  head,  was 
appointed  to  survey  the  country  and  mark  fit 
places  for  settlement.  The  letters  of  Davies,  who 
was  on  this  commission,  give  a  picturesque  ac- 
count of  its  proceedings.  It  was  accompanied 
by  surveyors  who  worked  under  guard,  for  "our 
geographers,"  wrote  Davies,  "do  not  forget  what 
entertainment  the  Irish  gave  to  a  map-maker 
about  the  end  of  the  late  rebellion."  When  he 
"came  into  Tyrconnell  the  inhabitants  took  off 
his  head,  because  they  would  not  have  their 
country  discovered."  The  thoroughness  with 
which  the  commissioners  did  their  work  is  at- 
tested by  the  completeness  of  their  records. 
Abstracts  of  title  were  made,  and  detailed  maps 
were  prepared,  for  which  there  is  still  so  much 
demand  that  the  British  Government  issues  fac- 
simile copies,  with  the  exception  of  the  map  of 
Donegal  which  has  been  lost.  On  June  5,  1610, 
Chichester  received  the  King's  warrant  to  pre- 
pare a  new  commission  to  put  the  settlers  in 
possession  and  on  August  28,  1610,  this  commis- 
sion issued  a  proclamation  that  the  allotted  lands 
were  open  for  occupation. 

Meanwhile  Court  influence  had  been  exerted 
to  induce  the  City  of  London  to  take  part  in  the 
enterprise.     At  that  time  London  was  still  a 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  37 

medieval  city,  surrounded  by  walls  the  gates  of 
which  were  shut  at  a  certain  hour.  The  popula- 
tion was  less  than  250,000,  and  even  this  number 
was  regarded  as  overcrowding  the  area  so  as  to 
invite  outbreaks  of  the  plague,  deaths  from  which 
cause  in  London  amounted  to  30,561  in  1603. 
One  of  the  arguments  used  in  support  of  coloni- 
zation projects  was  that  they  would  draw  off 
surplus  population  and  thus  avert  the  periodical 
visitations  of  the  plague.  The  importance  of 
London  was  very  much  greater  than  the  size  of 
its  population  might  suggest,  for  it  was  the 
privileged  seat  of  great  chartered  companies, 
whose  transactions  ranged  far  abroad.  In  that 
period  a  municipal  corporation  was  not  so  much 
a  governing  body  in  the  modern  sense  as  a  mer- 
cantile body.  It  was  interested  in  trade  for  the 
advantage  of  the  burgesses  far  more  than  in  ad- 
ministration of  public  affairs  for  the  benefit  of 
the  inhabitants.  Judicial  and  administrative 
functions  were  vigorously  exercised  as  an  inci- 
dent of  charter  privileges  and  for  their  protec- 
tion, but  the  conception  of  a  public  trusteeship 
for  the  general  welfare  was  still  undeveloped. 
It  was  not  until  1684  that  the  lighting  of  the 
streets  was  made  a  public  function.  The  dirty 
and  turbulent  town  was  a  mixture  of  squalor  and 
magnificence,  but  its  merchant  princes  were  a 
recognized  power  in  the  State  and  the  King  and 


28  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

his  Council  were  anxious  to  interest  them  in  the 
Ulster  project.  One  difficulty  in  the  way  was 
that  schemes  of  American  colonization  were  then 
attracting  business  adventure.  Much  was  known 
about  Ireland;  it  was  a  stale  subject  fraught  with 
disagreeable  associations.  Little  was  known  of 
America,  and  impressions  originally  derived 
from  the  East  attached  to  it,  as  the  term  "West 
Indies"  still  bears  witness,  as  also  the  common  ap- 
pellation of  the  American  aborigines.  The  men- 
tion of  Ireland  called  up  notions  of  hard  knocks 
and  poor  gains,  while  concerning  America  there 
were  vague  but  alluring  notions  compounded  of 
traditional  belief  in  the  gorgeous  opulence  of 
India,  of  genuine  trade  knowledge  of  the  value 
of  its  products,  and  of  rumors  of  vast  treasure 
gained  by  the  Spanish  in  America.  Among  the 
corporate  powers  of  the  London  Company  that 
founded  Jamestown  in  May,  1607,  was  the  right 
to  search  for  mines  and  to  coin  money.  No  such 
golden  lure  could  be  held  out  in  behalf  of  Ire- 
land. It  was  felt  that  special  efforts  were  neces- 
sary to  impress  upon  the  City  magnates  the 
business  advantages  to  be  derived  from  Irish 
colonization.  The  King  had  a  statement  pre- 
pared for  the  purpose  entitled  Motives  and 
Reasons  To  Induce  the  City  of  London  To  Un- 
dertake Plantation  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  An 
appeal  is  made  to  civic  pride  by  citing  "the 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  29 

eternal  commendation"  gained  by  Bristol,  which 
city  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  rebuilt  and 
populated  Dublin,  and  the  hope  is  expressed 
that  "this  noble  precedent  were  followed  by  the 
City  of  London  in  these  times."  The  King  de- 
sired that  London  do  for  Derry  what  Bristol  did 
for  Dublin,  and  he  submits  a  detailed  statement 
of  the  natural  resources,  industrial  opportunities 
and  commercial  facilities  of  the  north  of  Ireland, 
which  in  view  of  actual  results  does  not  seem  to 
be  much  inflated.  His  assertion  that  materials 
for  the  linen  trade  are  "finer  there  and  more 
plentiful  than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  Kingdom" 
was  eventually  borne  out  by  the  establishment  of 
the  linen  industry  for  which  the  North  of  Ireland 
has  since  been  famous.  This  appeal  together 
with  the  project  of  plantation  as  formulated  in 
Orders  and  Conditions  To  Be  Observed  by  Un- 
dertakers, was  sent  to  the  Lord  Mayor,  who,  on 
July  1,  1609,  issued  a  precept  to  the  chartered 
companies  requesting  that  they  meet  to  consider 
the  subject  and  also  to  nominate  four  men  from 
each  company  to  serve  on  a  committee  to  repre- 
sent the  City  in  the  negotiation.  The  City  com- 
panies were  apparently  reluctant  to  engage  in 
the  enterprise,  and  a  few  years  later  when  some 
differences  occurred  as  to  the  terms  of  the  bar- 
gain, it  was  officially  declared  that  the  City  had 
at  last  yielded  to  pressing  importunity.     The 


30  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

record  shows  that  the  companies  did  not  move 
until  a  second  and  more  urgent  precept  was  is- 
sued, dated  July  8,  1609.  The  companies  then 
sent  representatives  to  meet  at  Guildhall  to  dis- 
cuss the  King's  proposals  and  deputies  were  ap- 
pointed to  answer  for  the  City.  Several  confer- 
ences* took  place  between  these  deputies  and  the 
Privy  Council,  but  the  most  that  the  City  mag- 
nates would  agree  to  do  was  to  look  into  the  mat- 
ter. At  a  conference  with  the  Privy  Council  held 
on  Sunday,  July  30,  1609,  it  was  decided  that  the 
negotiations  should  be  suspended  until  "four 
wise,  grave  and  discreet  citizens  should  be  pres- 
ently sent  to  view  the  place."  They  were  to  go 
at  the  City's  charges  and  "make  report  to  the 
City,  at  their  return  from  thence,  of  their  opin- 
ions and  doings  touching  the  same." 

The  official  correspondence  of  that  period  re- 
veals the  solicitude  of  the  King  and  Privy  Coun- 
cil for  the  successful  conclusion  of  the  negotia- 
tion with  the  City.  On  August  3, 1609,  the  Privy 
Council  wrote  to  Chichester  notifying  him  that 
the  City  was  sending  out  certain  deputies  to 
view  the  land  and  instructing  him  to  provide 
such  guidance  as  would  impress  upon  them  the 
value  of  the  concessions,  while  "matters  of  dis- 
taste, as  fear  of  the  Irish,  of  the  soldiers,  of  cess, 
and  such  like,  be  not  so  much  as  named."  These 
citizens    of    London,    John    Brode,    goldsmith, 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  31 

John  Monroes,  Robert  Treswell,  painter,  and 
John  Rowley,  draper,  doubtless  found  them- 
selves much  courted  and  flattered  by  the  digni- 
taries to  whom  they  bore  letters  of  introduction. 
In  a  letter  of  August  28,  written  from  camp  in 
Coleraine,  to  Lord  Salisbury  of  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil, Davies  tells  how  they  were  all  using  "their 
best  rhetoric"  on  the  Londoners.  *  He  mentions 
that  "one  of  the  agents  is  fallen  sick,  and  would 
fain  return,  but  the  Lord  Deputy  and  all  the 
rest  here  use  all  means  to  comfort  and  retain  him, 
lest  this  accident  should  discourage  his  fellow- 
citizens." 

However  flattered  the  citizens  may  have  been 
by  these  blandishments  their  business  keenness 
was  not  impaired.  On  October  13,  1609,  Chi- 
chester writes  that  "these  agents  aim  at  all  the 
places  of  profit  and  pleasure  upon  the  rivers  of 
the  Bann  and  Loughfole."  He  had  endeavored 
to  meet  their  demands  "whereby  he  thinks  they 
depart  fully  satisfied."  But  the  soldier  evidently 
does  not  repose  entire  confidence  in  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  civic  bargainers,  for  he  remarks  that 
"he  prays  God  they  prove  not  like  their  London 
women,  who  sometimes  long  to-day  and  loathe 
to-morrow."  But  the  citizens  evidently  made  a 
favorable  report  to  the  City  guilds  for  in  the 
following  January  three  conferences  took  place 
in  London  between  the  Government  and  the  City 


32  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

in  which  the  City's  representatives  showed  an 
eager  spirit.  The  City  deputies  that  went  to 
Ireland  were  present  and  the  course  of  the 
proceedings  showed  that  they  had  prompted  de- 
mands beyond  what  the  Government  had  thought 
of  allowing.  The  minutes  record  that  on  some 
points  there  was  "much  altercation."  The  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Government  showed  an  ac- 
commodating spirit  and  eventually  an  agree- 
ment was  reached  confirmed  by  articles  signed 
January  28,  1610.  In  consideration  of  various 
privileges  the  City  agreed  to  levy  £20,000  in 
aid  of  the  proposed  plantation.  The  county  of 
Coleraine,  thereafter  known  as  Londonderry, 
was  allotted  to  the  City  for  colonization,  and  it 
was  stipulated  that  the  city  of  Deny  and  the 
town  of  Coleraine  should  be  rebuilt.  The  agree- 
ment is  set  forth  in  twenty-seven  articles,  con- 
cluding with  the  provision  that  "the  City  shall, 
with  all  speed,  set  forward  the  plantation  in 
such  sort  as  that  there  be  60  houses  built  in 
Deny  and  40  houses  at  Coleraine  by  the  first 
of  November  following,  with  convenient  forti- 
fications." 

Although  it  was  undoubtedly  a  wise  stroke  of 
policy  on  the  part  of  the  King  to  enlist  the 
powerful  City  guilds  in  the  enterprise,  the  main- 
stay of  the  Ulster  plantation  turned  out  to  be 
the  Scottish  participation,  which  does  not  seem 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  33 

to  have  been  originally  regarded  as  important. 
Although  from  the  first  there  was  an  understand- 
ing between  Chichester  and  the  English  Privy 
Council  that  eventually  the  plantation  would  be 
opened  to  Scotch  settlers,  no  steps  were  taken  in 
that  direction  until  the  plans  had  been  matured. 
If  meanwhile  any  expectations  of  a  share  were 
entertained  in  Scotland  there  was  no  legal  basis 
for  them.  Ireland  belonged  to  the  English 
Crown  and  although  the  King  of  Scotland  was 
also  King  of  England,  the  two  kingdoms  were 
then  quite  separate  and  distinct.  The  first  pub- 
lic announcement  of  any  Scottish  connection  with 
the  Ulster  plantation  appears  in  a  letter  of 
March  19,  1609,  from  Sir  Alexander  Hay,  the 
Scottish  secretary  resident  at  the  English  Court, 
to  the  Scottish  Privy  Council  at  Edinburgh. 
The  tone  of  the  letter  shows  that  he  was  all  agog 
with  the  news  of  the  fine  prospects  opening  up 
for  the  Scotch.  Hay  relates  that  he  had  been 
present  by  command  at  a  meeting  of  the  English 
Privy  Council,  at  which  he  was  notified  that  the 
arrangements  for  the  Ulster  plantation  had  been 
settled  and  that  the  King's  Scottish  subjects 
were  to  be  allowed  a  share.  Several  members  of 
the  Privy  Council  put  down  their  names  in  his 
presence,  and  the  roll  of  the  English  Under- 
takers was  already  complete.  The  articles  re- 
quired that  every  Undertaker  for  2,000  acres 


34  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

should  build  a  castle  of  stone,  which  he  feared 
"may  effraye  our  people,"  but  upon  inquiry  he 
learned  that  "nothing  was  meant  thereby  bot 
any  litill  toure  or  peill  suche  as  are  common  in 
our  Bordouris."  He  was  also  curious  to  know 
how  great  an  area  2,000  acres  would  be,  and  was 
told  that  it  meant  a  property  two  miles  square 
of  arable  land  and  pasture,  without  counting  at- 
tached wood  and  bog.  He  suggests  to  the  Coun- 
cil that  here  is  a  great  opportunity  for  Scotland, 
since  "we  haif  greitt  advantage  of  transporting 
of  our  men  and  bestiall  in  regard  we  lye  so  near 
to  that  coiste  of  Ulster."  The  Scottish  Privy 
Council  acted  promptly.  On  March  28  orders 
were  issued  for  public  proclamation  of  the  good 
things  now  available  upon  "certain  easy,  toler- 
able and  profitable  conditions,"  which  the  King 
had  offered  "out  of  his  unspeikable  love  and 
tendir  affectioun  toward  his  Majesties  subjectis" ; 
and  those  of  them  "quho  ar  disposit  to  tak  ony 
land  in  Yreland"  were  requested  to  present  their 
desires  and  petitions  to  the  Council.  The  King's 
ancient  subjects  responded  so  heartily  that  by 
September  14  the  allotments  applied  for  by 
seventy-seven  persons  amounted  to  141,000  acres 
although  Hay  had  reckoned  the  Scottish  share  at 
90,000  acres.  In  the  following  year  the  matter 
of  Scottish  participation  was  taken  over  by  the 
English  Privy  Council,  and  when  the  list  of  the 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  35 

Scottish  Undertakers  was  finally  revised  and 
completed,  the  number  had  been  reduced  from 
seventy-seven  to  fifty-nine,  and  of  these  only 
about  eighteen  had  been  among  the  original 
seventy-seven.  Instead  of  the  141,000  acres  ap- 
plied for,  the  final  award  allotted  81,000  acres 
to  Scotch  Undertakers. 

Military  considerations  presided  over  arrange- 
ments for  the  plantation.  Hence  the  scheme 
provided  that  the  natives  should  have  locations 
of  their  own,  while  the  settlers  should  be  massed 
in  districts  so  that  their  united  force  would  con- 
front attack.  Only  the  "servitors,"  a  class  of 
Undertakers  restricted  to  officers  in  the  public 
service  in  Ireland,  were  permitted  to  have  Irish 
tenants.  The  design  was  that  the  servitors 
should  have  estates  adjacent  to  the  Irish  reser- 
vations, to  "defend  the  borders  and  fortresses 
and  suppress  the  Irishry."  This  expression  oc- 
curs in  a  letter  of  May,  1609,  from  the  Bishop 
of  Armagh  urging  a  postponement  of  actual  oc- 
cupation until  the  following  spring,  one  of  his 
reasons  being  that  it  would  be  dangerous  for  the 
English  Undertakers  to  start  until  the  servitors 
were  ready.  The  lands  were  divided  into  lots  of 
2,000,  1,500  and  1,000  acres,  designated  respect- 
ively as  great,  middle  and  small  proportions. 
Each  Undertaker  for  a  great  or  middle  propor- 
tion had  to  give  bond,  in  £400  or  £300  respect- 


36  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ively,  that  within  three  years  he  would  build  a 
stone  or  brick  house  with  a  "bawn,"  fortified  en- 
closure, and  he  was  required  to  have  ready  in 
his  house  "12  muskets  and  calivers,  12  hand 
weapons  for  the  arming  of  24  men."  The  Un- 
dertaker for  a  small  proportion  had  to  give  bond 
in  £200  that  he  would  build  a  bawn.  The 
Scotch  and  English  Undertakers  for  great  pro- 
portions were  under  obligation  "within  three 
years  to  plant  or  place  upon  the  said  proportion 
48  able  men,  aged  18  years  or  upward,  born  in 
England  or  inward  parts  of  Scotland."  Appli- 
cations for  estates  were  open  to  three  classes: 
(1)  English  or  Scottish  persons  generally,  (2) 
servitors,  (3)  natives  of  Ireland.  The  estates 
of  2,000  acres  were  charged  with  knight's  service 
to  the  King  in  capite;  those  of  1,500  acres  with 
knight's  service  to  the  Castle  of  Dublin;  and 
those  of  1,000  acres  with  the  tenure  of  common 
socage.  That  is  to  say  the  larger  estates  were 
held  by  the  military  tenure  of  the  feudal  system, 
while  the  small  proportions  were  simply  held  by 
perpetual  lease  at  a  fixed  rent.  The  yearly  rent 
to  the  Crown  for  every  1,000  acres  was  5£  6s  8d 
for  Undertakers  of  the  first  sort,  8<£  for  the 
second  and  10£  13s.  4d.  for  the  native  Irish.  If 
the  servitors  should  plant  their  lands  with  Eng- 
lish or  Scottish  tenants  they  should  pay  the  same 
rent  as  the  Undertakers  of  the  first  sort.     No 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  37 

Undertaker  or  his  assign  had  the  right  to  "alien 
or  demise  any  of  his  lands  to  a  meer  Irish,  or  to 
any  who  will  not  take  the  oath  of  supremacy' ' 
upon  pain  of  forfeiture. 

These  particulars  are  taken  from  the  Carew 
Manuscripts,  which  give  a  summary  of  the  allot- 
ments as  completed  in  1611,  making  a  total  of 
511,465  acres.  Accompanying  documents  men- 
tion by  name  56  English  Undertakers  holding 
81,500  acres,  59  Scottish  holding  81,000  acres, 
and  59  servitors  holding  49,914  acres.  The 
names  of  277  natives  are  given  as  holders  of  allot- 
ments in  the  same  precincts  with  the  servitors, 
aggregating  52,479  acres.  In  addition  Connor 
Roe  Maguire  received  5,980  acres  and  "several 
Irishmen"  are  scheduled  as  holding  1,468  acres, 
making  a  total  of  59,927  acres  allotted  to  natives. 
The  Carew  summary  lumps  together  "British 
Undertakers  and  the  Londoners"  as  holders  of 
209,800  acres.  On  deducting  the  162,500  sched- 
uled to  English  and  Scotch  Undertakers  in  the 
records  accompanying  the  summary,  the  Lon- 
don allotments  appear  to  have  aggregated  47,300 
acres.  The  remainder  consisted  of  church  en- 
dowments and  lands  reserved  for  public  uses 
such  as  corporate  towns,  forts,  schools,  and  hos- 
pitals. The  College  of  Dublin  received  an  allot- 
ment of  9,600  acres. 

The  total  area  appropriated  in  Ulster  for  the 


38  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

purposes  of  the  plantation  has  been  a  contro- 
versial issue  and  estimates  differ  greatly,  some 
writers  putting  it  at  about  400,000  acres  while 
others  contend  that  it  amounted  to  nearly  4,000,- 
000  acres.  Such  wide  difference  on  a  ques- 
tion of  fact  shows  that  passion  has  clouded  the 
issue.  The  whole  of  the  six  counties  includes 
only  2,836,837  Irish  acres,  or  in  English  measure 
3,785,057  acres.  Just  how  much  of  this  area  was 
allotted  to  settlers  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
exactly,  notwithstanding  the  apparently  precise 
statement  made  in  the  Carew  records,  for  it 
seems  that  only  cleared  land  was  reckoned.  The 
Orders  and  Conditions  say  that  to  every  pro- 
portion "shall  be  allowed  such  quantity  of  bog 
and  wood  as  the  country  shall  conveniently  af- 
ford." The  negotiations  with  the  City  of  London 
show  that  in  that  case  large  claims  were  made 
of  privileges  appurtenant  to  the  acreage  granted, 
among  them  woodlands  extending  into  the  ad- 
joining county  of  Tyrone. 

Nevertheless  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Carew  computation  of  511,465  acres  is  a  fair 
statement  of  the  actual  extent  of  the  lands  ap- 
propriated for  the  plantation.  The  principle 
upon  which  the  plantation  was  founded  was  that 
the  settlers  should  be  massed  in  certain  districts. 
It  appears  from  a  letter  of  Davies  that  the  com- 
missioners charged  with  making  the  surveys  were 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  .  39 

in  camp  in  Ulster  nine  weeks.  In  that  period  of 
time  they  could  not  have  done  more  than  to  note 
and  map  areas  suitable  for  tillage  and  pasture, 
and  in  a  report  of  March  15,  1610,  accompany- 
ing the  transmission  of  the  maps  to  the  English 
Privy  Council  a  summary  is  given  of  land  avail- 
able for  the  plantation  aggregating  424,643 
acres.  There  are  also  indications  that  appur- 
tenant rights  were  strictly  construed.  The  grant 
of  woodlands  to  the  City  of  London  was  made 
with  the  reservation  that  the  timber  was  "to  be 
converted  to  the  use  of  the  plantation,  and  all 
necessary  uses  in  Ireland,  and  not  to  be  made 
merchandize."  It  was  afterward  ordered  that 
settlers  in  Donegal  and  Tyrone  should  be  al- 
lowed to  take  supplies  of  timber  from  the  Lon- 
doners' lands.  The  Carew  computation  of  the 
area  allotted  exceeds  by  86,822  acres  the  estimate 
of  available  lands  made  by  the  commission  of 
1610  which  suggests  that  the  Carew  computation 
includes  areas  of  every  kind  covered  by  the 
grants.  This  conjecture  is  strengthened  by  the 
fact  that  the  articles  of  agreement  with  London 
in  1610  mention  only  27,000  acres,  whereas  the 
Carew  record  made  in  1611  of  the  actual  distri- 
bution charges  the  Londoners  with  47,300  acres. 
Further  confirmation  is  supplied  by  a  report 
made  in  1618  by  Captain  George  Alleyne  as 
muster-master  of  Ulster.    It  contains  the  names 


40  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

of  all  the  landholders  and  the  number  of  their 
acres,  men,  muskets,  calivers,  pikes,  halberds  and 
swords.  The  holdings  of  the  English  and  Scot- 
tish Undertakers  are  returned  as  amounting  to 
197,000  acres,  and  of  the  servitors  51,720  acres, 
a  total  of  248,720  acres.  The  same  items  in  the 
Carew  summary  aggregate  259,714  acres.  So 
far  as  it  is  possible  to  test  the  Carew  summary 
it  appears  to  cover  the  total  area  appropriated 
for  the  occupation  and  use  of  the  plantation. 
That  is  to  say,  about  18  per  cent,  of  the  total 
area  of  the  six  escheated  counties,  including 
however  all  the  then  desirable  lands,  was  taken 
from  the  native  Irish  proprietors  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  plantation,  but  over  11  per  cent,  of 
these  confiscated  lands  was  allotted  to  Under- 
takers coming  forward  among  the  native  Irish. 
However  opinions  may  differ  as  to  the  morality 
of  the  scheme  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  suc- 
cess of  the  plantation.  Ulster  had  been  the  most 
backward  province  of  Ireland.  It  became  the 
most  populous  and  wealthy. 

CHRONOLOGY 

1605  October  2: — Chichester  to  Salisbury  urging  the  need 
of  "planting  of  English  and  others  well  affected"  in 
Ulster. 

1606  Bacon  to  James  I: — "Considerations  Touching  the 
Plantations  in  Ireland." 

1607  September  4:— Flight  of  the  Earls. 


THE  ULSTER  PLANTATION  41 

September  17: — Chichester  urges  the  need  of  bring- 
ing into  Ulster  "colonies  of  civil  people  of  England 
and  Scotland/' 

September  29 : — Privy  Council  replies  that  the  King 
is  "resolved  to  make  a  mixture  of  the  inhabitants, 
as  well  Irish,  as  English  and  Scottish." 
J  608     April  18: — O'Dogherty  captures  Derry. 
July  5: — O'Dogherty  killed. 

September: — Chichester  sends  to  the  Privy  Council 
"Certain  Notes  of  Remembrances  touching  the 
Plantation  and  Settlement  of  the  Escheated  Lands." 

1609  March: — The  Privy  Council  issues  "Orders  and 
Conditions  to  be  observed  by  the  Undertakers." 
March  19: — Letter  from  the  Scottish  Secretary  of 
State  in  London  to  the  Scottish  Privy  Council  at 
Edinburgh  announcing  that  Scots  are  to  share  in  the 
Ulster  Plantation. 

March    28: — Proclamation    of    the    Scottish    Privy 
Council  inviting  applications  for  Ulster  lands. 
July  14: — Deputies  chosen  by  the  London  Guilds  to 
confer   with   the   Privy    Council   on   the   matter   of 
taking  part  in  the  Ulster  Plantation. 
July  21: — Commissioners  appointed  to  make  allot- 
ments and  to  mark  fit  places  for  settlement. 
July  30 : — Four  citizens  of  London  sent  at  the  City's 
charge  to  view  the  country. 

1610  January  28: — Articles  of  Agreement  with  the  City 
of  London  for  the  rebuilding  of  Derry  and  the 
planting  of  Coleraine. 

June  5: — Chichester  receives  the  King's  warrant  to 
appoint  a  new  commission  for  Ulster  to  remove  the 
natives  and  put  the  settlers  in  possession. 
August  28: — Proclamation  from  commissioners  that 
lands  allotted  are  open  for  occupation. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Land  and  the  People 

The  feature  of  the  physical  geography  of  Ire- 
land that  has  influenced  its  politics  is  the  absence 
of  mountain  coverts  or  physical  barriers  capable 
of  sheltering  a  native  race  after  the  manner  of 
the  Highlands  of  Scotland.  No  such  demarca- 
tion of  culture  on  physical  lines  as  between  the 
Highlands  and  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland  could 
be  established.  No  such  saying  as  that  "the  Firth 
of  Forth  bridles  the  wild  Hielander"  could  be- 
come current.  In  Ireland  there  is  no  dominating 
mountain  mass.  Small  clusters  of  mountains 
stud  the  rim  of  the  island,  almost  encircling  a 
central  plain,  but  there  is  everywhere  easy  ac- 
cess from  the  coast  to  the  interior  by  valley 
roads,  and  at  some  places  the  central  plain 
comes  clear  to  the  coast.  Narrow  shallow  seas 
separate  Ireland  from  Great  Britain  and 
the  strait  between  Ireland  and  Scotland  at  its 
narrowest  point  is  only  thirteen  and  a  half 
miles  wide. 

During  the  period  of  barbarism  in  Europe, 
before  races  became  united  to  the  soil  to  form 

42 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         43 

nations  and  while  the  State  was  still  migra- 
tory, Ireland's  openness  to  invasion  invited  de- 
scents upon  the  land.  Extent  and  variety  of 
invasion  form  the  theme  of  the  legendary  history 
of  early  Ireland.  Tribal  successes  figure  as  the 
founding  of  groups  of  kingdoms,  the  might  and 
renown  of  which  are  so  embellished  by  legend 
that  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  island  is  only 
302  miles  in  its  greatest  length  with  an  average 
breadth  of  about  110  miles.  It  is  a  law  of  history 
that  when  cultures  meet  legends  are  apt  to  blend. 
One  of  the  world's  great  epics  is  a  monument  of 
this  process,  Vergil's  Mneid,  in  which  the 
foundation  of  Rome  is  connected  with  the  fall 
of  Troy.  This  mythical  relationship  was  not 
conceived  until  the  expansion  of  Roman  power 
had  established  close  contact  with  the  East.  As 
Ireland  entered  the  circle  of  European  culture  its 
own  legendary  history  received  strong  tinctures 
from  both  classical  and  Biblical  sources.  Ac- 
cording to  some  of  the  bards  arrivals  in  Ireland 
before  the  deluge  were  numerous,  and  among 
other  visitors  three  daughters  of  Cain  are  men- 
tioned. A  few  weeks  before  the  Flood  a  niece 
of  Noah,  named  Cesara,  arrived  in  Ireland  with 
a  party  of  antediluvians.  After  the  Flood  set- 
tlements were  made  by  colonists  from  Greece, 
Scythia,  Egypt  and  Crete.  Before  leaving  the 
East  the  colonists  intermarried  with  descendants 


44  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

of  most  of  the  heroes  of  Biblical  history,  and 
Judean  princesses  supplied  sacred  treasures  for 
transmission  to  Ireland.  There  are  old  Irish 
genealogies  that  extend  without  a  break  to 
Magog,  the  son  of  Japhet,  the  son  of  Noah. 
Lists  are  given  of  Kings  of  Ireland  that  were  con- 
temporary with  the  rulers  of  the  Assyrians,  the 
Medes,  the  Persians,  the  Greeks  and  the 
Romans.  In  like  manner  the  legendary  history 
of  Poland  tells  how  the  ancient  rulers  of  the  land 
subdued  Crassus,  King  of  the  Parthians,  and 
inflicted  severe  defeats  upon  Julius  Caesar.  The 
curious  mixture  of  myths  in  Irish  legendary  his- 
tory is  well  illustrated  by  those  which  attach  to 
the  Lia  Fail,  or  Stone  of  Destiny,  preserved  in 
the  coronation  chair  of  the  Kings  of  England. 
It  was  brought  into  England  by  Edward  I.,  who 
captured  it  in  1296  at  Scone,  where  the  Kings 
of  Scotland  were  crowned.  The  legend  runs 
that  it  was  the  stone  on  which  Jacob  pillowed 
his  head  at  Bethel,  and  was  handed  down  to  his 
heirs,  ultimately  coming  into  the  possession  of 
Irish  colonists,  who  carried  the  stone  with  them 
and  set  it  up  on  the  hill  of  Tara.  Thence  the 
stone  was  carried  into  Scotland,  where  its 
authentic  history  begins.  It  is  a  sacred  stone  of 
great  antiquity,  but  geologists  find  it  to  be  of 
local  material  and  archaeologists  class  it  among 
the  menhirs,  or  memorial  stones  of  the  period  of 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         45 

barbarism,    specimens    of   which    are    found   in 
many  countries.1 

The  barbarian  culture  that  is  found  in  Ireland 
when  authentic  history  begins  is  commonly  desig- 
nated Celtic,  and  upon  this  classification  much 
historical  hypothesis  has  been  set  up.  Some 
writers  have  predicated  the  existence  in  prehis- 
toric times  of  a  great  Celtic  Empire  extending 


*It  appears  from  the  following,  in  the  weekly  edition  of  the 
London  Times,  September  22,  1911,  that  the  legendary  history  of 
the  Coronation  Stone  still  receives  credence: 

"Archdeacon  Wilberforce,  preaching  at  Westminster  Abbey  on 
Sunday,  said  that  it  fell  to  his  lot  during  the  preparations  at  the 
Abbey  for  the  Coronation  to  guide  to  the  Coronation  Stone  a 
well-known  antiquary  who  had  made  a  study  of  its  history. 

"The  antiquary  was  convinced  that  it  was  the  stone  on  which 
Jacob  rested  his  head  when  he  had  the  vision  of  angels  at  Bethel, 
and  that  from  that  night  it  was  considered  sacred  and  carried 
from  place  to  place.  He  believed  it  was  that  stone  that  Moses 
struck,  and  that  it  was  carried  by  the  Israelites  during  their 
40  years  of  wandering.  He  pointed  to  a  big  cleft  in  the  back 
from  which  the  water  gushed  out.  He  also  indicated  two  rusted 
iron  staples  deeply  sunk,  one  at  each  end,  by  which  it  was  car- 
ried. He  traced  the  stone  to  Solomon's  Temple,  and  from  thence, 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  to  Spain,  thence  to 
Ireland,  thence  to  Scone,  and  from  Scotland  to  Westminster 
Abbey. 

"Mr.  E.  S.  Foot  writes  from  13,  Marlboroughplace,  St.  John's- 
wood:  'The  late  Dean  Stanley,  in  his  Memorials  of  Westmin- 
ster, pages  594-5-6,  sets  out  the  authorities,  Professor  Ramsay, 
Director  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  England,  and  his  colleague, 
Mr.  Geikie,  who,  after  minute  investigation,  were  satisfied  that 
the  stone  is  old  red  sandstone,  exactly  resembling  that  which 
forms  the  doorway  of  Dunstaffnage  Castle,  which  exactly  agrees 
with  the  character  of  the  Coronation  Stone  itself.  "The  rocks  of 
Egypt,  so  far  as  I  know  [Mr.  Geikie],  consist  chiefly  of  mum- 
mulitic  limestone,  of  which  the  Great  Pyramid  is  built.  I  have 
never  heard  of  any  strata  occurring  there  similar  to  the  red 
sandstone,  of  the  Coronation  Stone." ' " 


46  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

across  Europe.  The  material  upon  which  such 
conjectures  are  based  is  chiefly  derived  from  ref- 
erences in  Greek  and  Latin  writers  to  the  Keltoi 
or  Celtse  in  different  parts  of  Europe.  But 
upon  examination  the  terms  are  not  found  to 
possess  a  specific  value,  but  are  rather  a  general 
designation  like  our  term  "barbarians."  The  term 
"Keltoi"  was  first  used  to  designate  the  barbarian 
neighbors  of  the  Greek  colony  on  the  site  of 
modern  Marseilles  in  Southern  France.  Ac- 
cording to  Herodotus  the  country  from  the 
Danube  to  the  Western  Ocean  was  occupied  by 
the  Keltoi.  Tribes  later  classed  as  German  or 
Teutonic  were  once  classed  among  the  Celtse. 
Inferences  as  to  the  existence  of  Celtic  empire, 
because  ancient  writers  spoke  of  Keltoi  in  the 
East  and  in  the  West,  seem  to  be  as  little  war- 
ranted as  would  be  belief  in  the  existence  of  an 
extensive  empire  among  the  American  aborigi- 
nes because  of  reports  of  encounters  with  Indian 
tribes  in  widely  separated  places. 

Although  as  an  ethnic  term  "Celtic"  is  a  vague 
appellation,  it  is  quite  different  as  a  philological 
term.  It  is  applied  to  a  well-defined  group  of 
the  Indo-European  family  of  languages,  in- 
cluding Irish,  Scottish,  Gaelic,  Manx,  Welsh, 
Cornish,  and  Breton.  The  philological  evidence 
is  conclusive  that  these  are  all  varieties  of  one  lan- 
guage.   Characteristics  of  Celtic  speech  are  dis- 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         47 

cerned  by  some  philologists  in  specimens  of  the 
language  of  the  ancient  Gauls  that  have  been 
preserved  by  classical  writers,  and  indications 
of  Celtic  place  names  have  been  noted  as  far 
east  as  the  Dniester  River.  But  it  is  observed 
by  the  authorities  that  there  is  no  evidence  of 
any  considerable  Celtic  infusion  in  either  the 
Teutonic  or  the  Romance  languages,  such  as 
might  be  expected  if  dialect  forms  found  in  his- 
toric times  had  arisen  on  a  basis  of  Celtic  culture. 
Thus  it  would  appear  that  Celtic  names  in 
Europe  mark  either  stages  in  tribal  migration 
westward  or  places  whose  Celtic  inhabitants  be- 
came subject  to  other  peoples  thus  losing  their 
own  language  and  racial  identity. 

Thus,  whether  the  matter  be  viewed  in  its 
ethnic  or  in  its  linguistic  aspects,  there  appears 
to  be  no  real  support  for  the  romantic  conjecture 
still  put  forth  in  the  name  of  history,  according 
to  which  the  Celtic  peoples  are  relics  of  a  once 
mighty  nation  spreading  over  Europe  and  con- 
testing with  Greece  and  Rome  for  the  empire 
of  the  Western  World.  When  the  Celtic  tribes 
appear  in  the  full  light  of  history  they  are  all 
found  in  the  west  of  Europe.  They  hold  western 
parts  of  England  and  Scotland;  they  hold  Ire- 
land, the  most  western  of  the  British  Islands; 
and  also  Brittany,  the  most  western  part  of 
France.     The  hypothesis  that  best  fits  the  his- 


48  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

toric  facts  is  that  the  Celtic  tribes  were  the 
foremost  wave  of  Indo-European  migration 
westward,  pressed  to  the  remotest  regions  by 
succeeding  waves.  This  hypothesis  agrees  with 
the  well  authenticated  fact  that  Ireland  did  ex- 
perience a  series  of  invasions.  The  process  of 
migration  is  historically  exhibited  in  the  case  of 
the  Celts  of  Brittany,  who  migrated  thither  from 
the  Saxon  invasions  of  England  during  the  fifth 
and  sixth  centuries.  This  hypothesis  does  not 
imply  that  the  process  would  not  have  widely 
separated  stages,  or  that  it  may  not  have  been  ac- 
companied by  long  periods  of  settlement  on  the 
European  continent,  or  that  ihe  westward  move- 
ment was  necessarily  the  result  of  the  onslaught 
of  other  Indo-European  tribes,  although  ethnic 
collisions  probably  influenced  the  movement.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  early  forms  of  the 
State  are  very  migratory.  The  crude  technol- 
ogy of  barbarians  tends  to  exhaust  the  natural 
resources  of  any  locality  occupied  by  them.  The 
natural  fertility  of  Ireland,  and  particularly  the 
richness  and  quick  growth  of  its  natural  pasture, 
would  be  very  attractive  to  barbarians.  Ener- 
getic, roving  peoples  reaching  the  northern  coasts 
of  the  mainland  would  eventually  reach  Ireland. 
The  enthusiastic  assiduity  of  Irish  antiquar- 
ians has  extracted  from  scanty  material  proofs 
that  in  Ireland  Celtic  character  developed  its 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         49 

fairest  flower  and  Celtic  culture  attained  its 
finest  expression.  The  known  facts  do  not  dis- 
credit the  claim.  The  name  of  the  country 
was  associated  with  traditions  of  racial  dignity 
and  culture.  The  archaeological  evidence  har- 
monizes with  these  traditions.  Ancient  gold 
ornaments,  bronze  weapons  and  articles  of  do- 
mestic use  have  been  disinterred,  giving  evidence 
of  native  acquaintance  with  the  working  of 
metals  and  of  the  existence  of  artistic  crafts. 
Trade  went  on  between  Ireland  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean countries  from  the  earliest  times.  Roman 
coins  both  of  the  republican  and  of  the  early  im- 
perial period  have  been  found  at  a  number  of 
widely  separated  points.  The  fact  that  Roman 
geographers  regarded  Ireland  as  midway  be- 
tween Spain  and  Britain  points  to  the  existence 
of  direct  traffic  between  Irish  and  Spanish  ports. 
The  escape  of  St.  Patrick,  when  a  youth,  from 
captivity  in  Ireland  was  made  by  the  favor  of 
a  party  of  traders  who  had  among  the  merchan- 
dise they  shipped  from  Ireland  a  pack  of  Celtic 
hounds,  a  breed  highly  valued  in  Southern 
Europe.  It  has  been  plausibly  conjectured  that 
Patricius  owed  his  escape  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
learned  to  tend  such  hounds  while  in  the  service 
of  his  master.  That  the  traffic  should  be  going 
on  at  such  a  period  shows  that  it  was  a  thing  of 
long  custom,  for  the  times  were  not  such  as  to 


60  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

encourage  new  enterprise.  The  Vandals,  Sueves 
and  Alans  entered  Gaul  at  the  end  of  A.D.  406, 
followed  in  a  few  years  by  the  Visigoths.  Bar- 
barian bands  ravaged  the  country,  looting, 
slaying  and  burning,  until  considerable  regions 
became  a  desolate  wilderness.  In  his  account  of 
his  journey  with  the  traders  through  Southern 
Gaul  after  making  a  landing,  Patricius  says  they 
journeyed  as  through  a  desert  for  eight  and 
twenty  days  in  all,  in  danger  of  dying  from 
starvation. 

Christianity  must  have  entered  Ireland 
through  the  intercourse  of  trade,  its  case  in  this 
respect  being  like  that  of  Armenia  and  Abys- 
sinia. The  system  of  reckoning  Easter  employed 
by  the  Celtic  church  was  obsolete  in  Rome  and 
in  the  churches  of  Gaul  before  St.  Patrick  began 
his  apostolic  labors  in  Ireland  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury. Professor  Bury,  who  in  his  Life  of  St. 
Patrick  has  made  an  exhaustive  examination  of 
the  evidence,  concludes  that  this  and  some  other 
typical  differences  between  Ireland  and  the  con- 
tinent in  Christian  practice  were  due  to  the  fact 
that  an  early  form  of  Christianity  had  taken  root 
before  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick.  When  Ireland 
made  its  appearance  in  European  history  it  was 
as  a  center  from  which  radiated  a  Christianity  of 
a  distinctly  Celtic  type.  This  implies  that  Chris- 
tian doctrine  found  a  cultural  basis  upon  which 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         51 

to  organize  a  native  church.  The  specialist  who 
supplied  the  Encyclopaedia  Britanica  article 
on  the  "Early  History  of  Ireland"  remarks: 
"The  exalted  position  occupied  by  the  learned 
class  in  ancient  Ireland  perhaps  affords  the  key 
to  the  wonderful  outbursts  of  scholarly  activity 
in  Irish  monasteries  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth 
centuries."  That  this  scholarly  activity  was  not 
an  importation  of  classical  learning  is  attested 
by  evidence  that  prior  to  the  seventh  century  the 
literary  documents  of  the  Irish  church  were  com- 
posed in  Irish.  Professor  Bury  has  pointed  out 
that  it  was  not  until  a  later  period  that  composi- 
tions in  Latin  began  to  appear  alongside  of 
literary  productions  in  the  vernacular. 

The  case  of  Ireland,  when  carefully  con- 
sidered, does  not  appear  to  be  peculiar  as  regards 
ethnic  origins.  It  is  not  disputed  that  the  Irish 
are  cognates  of  peoples  that  have  founded  highly 
organized  States  in  England  and  on  the  conti- 
nent. That  the  Irish  did  not  do  so  is  to  be  at- 
tributed to  historical  accidents.  Of  these,  the 
most  far-reaching  in  its  effects  was  the  fact  that 
Irish  tribal  forms  of  social  and  political  organi- 
zation were  never  broken  up  by  passing  under 
the  harrow  of  Roman  law.  Another  important 
circumstance  was  that  the  spread  of  Christianity 
in  Ireland  retained  and  utilized  tribal  institu- 
tions that  on  the  continent  were  broken  down 


52  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

and  discarded.  When  Charlemagne  was  ham- 
mering Christianity  into  the  heathen  Saxons  in 
the  eighth  century  he  was  smashing  their  tribal 
system  at  the  same  time.  At  that  period  Ire- 
land had  been  a  Christian  country  for  centuries, 
and  was  famous  as  a  center  of  missionary  activity 
and  yet  it  still  retained  its  archaic  pattern  of 
social  and  political  organization.  The  Irish 
kings,  with  some  vicissitudes,  successfully  re- 
sisted invasions  that  were  triumphant  in  Eng- 
land. In  the  first  quarter  of  the  eleventh  century 
when  the  empire  of  Canute  the  Dane  extended 
over  England,  Denmark,  Norway,  and  part  of 
Sweden,  Ireland  was  under  native  princes  whose 
historiographers  could  point  to  a  succession  of 
victories  over  the  Northmen,  destroying  their 
settlements  and  uprooting  their  power. 

It  was  not  until  the  Norman  invasion  estab- 
lished a  State  in  England  with  consolidated 
resources  and  centralized  authority  that  the  mili- 
tary inferiority  of  Irish  institutions  was  mani- 
fested in  the  relations  between  the  two  countries. 
But  while  thereafter  Ireland  remained  a  prey 
to  English  invasion,  her  tribal  polity  displayed 
marked  capacity  for  absorbing  the  invaders  into 
the  mass  of  native  Irish.  Irish  nationality  is  a 
modern  concept.  Ancient  and  mediaeval  Ire- 
land was  a  country  given  over  to  internecine  war- 
fare.    Foreign  intervention  in  the  aid  of  some 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         53 

native  interest  was  sought  and  welcomed.  A 
native  chronicler,  referring  to  the  Anglo- 
Norman  invasion  beginning  in  1169,  says: 
"Earl  Strongbow  came  into  Erin  with  Dermod 
Mac  Murrough  to  avenge  his  expulsion  by 
Roderick,  son  of  Turlough  O'Connor;  and  Der- 
mod gave  him  his  own  daughter  and  a  part  of 
his  patrimony,  and  Saxon  foreigners  have  been 
in  Erin  since  then."  The  Norman  adventurers 
tried  to  carve  the  land  into  feudal  fiefs,  and  the 
feudal  system  came  into  violent  conflict  with  the 
Irish  tribal  system,  but  the  latter  showed  greater 
endurance.  The  Anglo-Norman  nobles  found 
the  vague,  customary  powers  of  Irish  chiefry 
more  favorable  to  their  authority  than  the  more 
explicitly  defined  rights  and  duties  of  a  feudal 
lord.  When  Henry  VIII.  came  to  the  throne  of 
England  in  1509,  many  old  Anglo-Norman 
families  had  either  disappeared  or  were  merged 
into  the  Celtic  mass.  English  polity  was  re- 
stricted to  an  area  extending  over  a  radius  of 
about  twenty  miles  from  Dublin,  known  as  the 
"Pale,"  and  a  still  smaller  area  about  Kilkenny. 
Over  the  greater  part  of  the  island  Celtic  tribal 
institutions  still  supplied  the  legal  and  political 
framework  of  society.  It  was  not  until  after  the 
accession  of  James  I.  that  the  division  of  the 
land  into  counties  was  completed,  and  Ulster 
was  the  last  province  to  be  brought  under  civil 


54  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

jurisdiction.  In  Elizabeth's  time  a  scheme  of 
county  organization  for  Ulster  was  adopted,  but 
there  was  no  machinery  of  government.  Sir 
John  Davies  says  of  the  period  before  Chiches- 
ter's administration:  "The  law  was  never  ex- 
ecuted in  the  new  counties  by  any  sheriff  or 
justices  of  assize;  but  the  people  were  left  to  be 
ruled  still  by  their  own  barbarous  lords  and  laws." 

The  distinctive  characteristics  of  Irish  history 
may  be  attributed  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  an 
archaic  type  of  polity  was  accidentally  preserved 
to  modern  times.  The  struggles  and  sufferings 
that  ensued  from  the  clash  of  cultures  were  such 
as  have  always  attended  such  a  situation.  It 
was  with  reference  to  this  that  Sir  Henry  Maine 
in  his  Ancient  Law  remarked:  "The  history 
of  political  ideas  begins  with  the  assumption  that 
kinship  in  blood  is  the  sole  possible  ground  of 
community  in  political  functions,  nor  is  there 
any  of  those  subversions  of  feeling  which  we 
emphatically  call  revolutions  so  startling  and 
so  complete  as  the  change  which  is  established 
when  some  other  principle,  such  as  that  for  in- 
stance of  local  contiguity,  establishes  itself  for 
the  first  time  as  the  basis  of  common  political 
action." 

When  recorded  history  begins  the  Greek  and 
the  Latin  tribes  are  discovered  in  the  throes  of 
this  revolution  from  which  civilization  issued. 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         55 

On  the  continent  of  Europe  the  change  took 
place  in  the  darkness  of  barbarism  and  left  few 
records  to  history.  The  peculiarity  of  Ireland's 
case  is  that  it  was,  as  Lord  Bacon  observed, 
the  last  European  country  to  pass  from  tribal 
status  to  civil  polity.  But  that  very  circum- 
stance now  makes  her  native  institutions  spe- 
cially interesting  to  scholars.  What  Bacon 
deplored  as  barbarous  customs  and  habits  that 
"enchant  them  in  savage  manners' '  are  now  the 
very  things  in  which  students  are  chiefly  inter- 
ested, for  detailed  knowledge  of  them  would 
throw  light  upon  the  social  and  political  organi- 
zation of  all  the  Indo-European  tribes  in  the 
prehistoric  period.  An  elaborate  apparatus  ex- 
isted for  the  perpetuation  of  the  customary  laws 
and  historical  traditions  of  the  tribe.  There 
were  brehons,  who  were  repositories  of  tribal 
law;  shanahs  who  were  genealogists  and  inci- 
dentally recorders  of  titles  of  lands;  rhymers 
who  related  the  deeds  of  the  heroes;  and  harp- 
ers, whose  music  celebrated  the  honor  of  the 
sept.  Biographers  of  Thomas  Moore  tell  us 
that  his  Irish  Melodies  are  based  upon  Irish 
folk  songs,  a  fact  which  must  impress  one  with 
the  variety  and  refinement  of  musical  rhythms 
native  to  Ireland,  and  also  serve  to  corroborate 
archaeological  evidence  to  the  effect  that  artistic 
culture  was  attained  under  native  institutions. 


56  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

In  thus  drawing  upon  native  Irish  sources 
Moore  enriched  the  metrical  resources  of  Eng- 
lish verse  and  established  his  own  best  claim  to 
fame.  It  seems  to  have  been  no  more  than  a 
plain  statement  of  the  actual  facts  of  the  case 
when  the  poet  wrote : 

"Dear  Harp   of  my  Country!      In  darkness   I   found 
thee, 

The  cold  chain  of  silence  had  hung  o'er  thee  long. 
When  proudly,  my  own  Island  Harp,  I  unbound  thee, 

And  gave  all  thy  chords  to  light,  freedom  and  song !" 

The  point  at  which  the  clash  of  Irish  tribal 
status  and  English  law  was  most  acute  was  in 
the  matter  of  land  tenure.  Although  English 
law  admitted  various  kinds  of  tenure  in  land  it 
was  exacting  and  insistent  on  the  point  of  indi- 
vidual rights.  Under  the  tribal  system  surviv- 
ing in  Ireland  the  individual  had  no  rights  as 
such  defined  by  law,  but  as  a  tribesman  he  had 
certain  traditional  privileges  in  the  common 
lands  of  the  tribe  conditioned  upon  customary 
dues  and  service  to  his  chief,  so  vague  that  they 
might  vary  greatly  according  to  the  disposition 
and  opportunity  of  the  chief.  The  sort  of  tribal 
communism  that  existed  in  Ireland  is  exempli- 
fied in  the  following  petition  of  one  Neale 
O'Donnell  to  Chichester,  October  9,  1613: 

"It  is  not  unknown  to  your  lordship  that 
the  Irish  gentry  did  ever  make  their  fol- 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         57 

lowers'  purses  their  only  exchequer.  And 
I  beseech  your  lordship  (now  anew)  to  take 
notice  that  mine  ancestors  left  me  as  great 
an  inheritance  (in  this  kind)  as  any  other 
man's  did  unto  himself.  Of  which  stock,  as 
I  never  employed  any  part  (of  things  given 
by  myself)  unanswerably  claim  as  any  Ul- 
cestrian  whatever.  My  humble  suit,  there- 
fore, unto  your  honorable  good  lordship  is, 
that  as  your  honor  has  restored  their  com- 
mins  unto  all  others,  so  you  would  .  .  . 
help  me  unto  my  commins  also.  ...  I 
beseech  your  lordship,  in  regard  to  them, 
to  cause  my  tenants  (or  if  need  be,  force 
them)  to  bring  up  my  children  to  school 
till  I  otherwise  dispose  of  my  commins  at 
least." 

These  "comynes,"  for  so  the  term  usually  ap- 
pears in  the  State  Papers,  denotes  a  custom  based 
upon  the  relations  of  the  chief  of  a  sept  to  his 
people.  He  claimed  all  the  lands  as  his  in  trust 
for  his  people.  It  is  a  trusteeship  that  is  merely 
customary  and  not  legally  defined,  but  it  inter- 
mingles his  private  estate  and  the  common 
wealth.  His  own  exertions  belong  to  his  func- 
tions as  ruler,  judge  and  captain  of  his  people. 
Instead  of  gathering  wealth  into  his  own  pos- 
session, he  distributes  cattle  or  other  goods 
among  his  people  and  in  return  they  provide  for 
his  wants,  rear  his  children  and  meet  the  ex- 
penses of  their  education.     These  dues  are  the 


58  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

chief's  comynes.  In  instructions  issued  August 
28,  1610,  for  settling  claims  of  comynes,  Chiches- 
ter remarks  that  some  of  the  tenants  and  fol- 
lowers of  the  Irish  gentry  "have  by  their  cus- 
toms of  comynes  gotten  into  their  hands  the 
greater  part  of  those  goods  and  chattels;  and 
are,  therefore,  in  far  better  estate  than  their  land- 
lords, except  there  be  restitution  made  of  some 
just  portion  thereof  to  him  or  them  from  whom 
the  same  have  been  received  by  way  of  comynes." 
Such  facts  show  how  closely  the  interests  of 
the  native  gentry  were  bound  up  with  the  main- 
tenance of  tribal  custom  in  land  tenure.  The 
principal  chiefs  frequently  showed  themselves 
not  averse  to  taking  'title  from  the  English 
Crown  for  themselves,  but  they  were  bent  on 
keeping  their  people  in  the  position  of  tenants- 
at-will,  their  holdings  subject  to  the  disposition 
of  the  chief.  It  was  the  policy  of  the  English 
Government  to  break  up  this  dependence  of  the 
people  upon  the  will  of  their  chiefs.  In  one  of 
his  early  letters  from  Ireland  Sir  John  Davies 
pointed  out  that  it  was  just  by  such  control  over 
tenants  that  the  feudal  barons  of  the  Middle 
Ages  were  able  to  carry  on  rebellion : 

"Whereas,  at  this  day,  if  any  of  the  great 
lords  of  England  should  have  a  mind  to 
stand  upon  their  guard,  well  may  they  have 
some  of  their  household  servants  and  re- 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         59 

tainers,  or  some  few  light-trained  fractious 
gentlemen  to  follow  them;  but  as  for  those 
tenants  who  have  good  leases  for  years  .  .  . 
those  fellows  will  not  hazard  the  losing  of 
their  sheep,  their  oxen  and  their  corn,  and 
the  undoing  of  themselves,  their  wives  and 
children,  for  the  love  of  the  best  landlord  in 
England." 

Just  such  independence  on  the  part  of  their 
tenants  the  Irish  chiefs  instinctively  feared,  and 
their  obstinate  resistance  to  surrendering  their 
tribal  sovereignty  was  the  root  from  which  rebel- 
lion kept  growing.  The  collective  right  of  the 
people  to  the  soil,  characteristic  of  Irish  tribal 
polity,  has  received  much  praise  from  writers  in 
our  own  times  as  an  arrangement  securing  the 
individual  against  social  degradation  and  the 
pressure  of  want.  So  judicial  a  historian  as 
Lecky  says  of  the  Irish  clansman:  "His  posi- 
tion was  wholly  different  from  and  in  some  re- 
spects very  superior  to  that  of  an  English 
tenant."  His  superiority  consisted  in  the  fact 
that  whereas  the  English  tenant  had  to  pay  rent 
and  in  case  of  default  might  be  ejected,  "the 
humblest  clansman  was  a  co-proprietor  with  his 
chief."  But  in  practice  this  co-partnership  gen- 
erally meant  that  the  clansman  retained  only 
what  his  chief  chose  to  leave  him.  The  indus- 
trious could  not  possess  for  themselves  the  re- 
wards   of    their    industry,    and    as    invariably 


60  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

happens  in  all  such  cases  industry  did  not 
thrive.  There  was  no  motive  for  people  to  build 
and  improve,  when  their  accumulations  might 
be  appropriated  by  the  chiefs  and  they  them- 
selves be  shifted  to  other  fields. 

The  system  kept  the  people  under  primitive 
conditions  of  pastoral  life.  Some  of  the  chiefs 
dwelt  in  clay  houses;  others  of  them  followed 
"creaghting,"  a  term  denoting  the  practice  of 
moving  about  the  country  with  their  live  stock, 
chief  and  people  living  in  booths  made  of  boughs 
coated  with  long  strips  of  turf.  Such  habitations 
could  be  easily  run  up  and  lightly  abandoned. 
"Such  are  the  dwellings  of  the  very  lords  among 
them,"  remarks  an  English  traveler  who  was  in 
the  country  in  1600.  What  tillage  there  was  was 
carried  on  in  the  rudest  fashion:  several  horses 
were  fastened  each  by  the  tail  to  a  short  plough 
with  a  man  to  every  horse  to  urge  and  direct  the 
animal.  In  this  way  they  raised  oats  for  their 
horses  and  barley  for  distilling  into  whiskey. 
The  principal  flesh  meat  of  the  people  was  pork, 
while  oatmeal  and  herbs  furnished  vegetable 
food.  There  were  also  supplies  of  milk  and  but- 
ter, chickens  and  rabbits.  There  must  have  been 
a  rude  plenty,  for  it  appears  that  wandering 
hawkers  were  familiar  visitors  to  the  creaghts, 
bargaining  for  country  produce.  The  chiefs 
passed  their  leisure  time  hunting  in  the  woods 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         61 

and  coshering  among  their  tenants.  "Cosher- 
ing," from  an  Irish  word  meaning  feasting  or 
entertainment,  denotes  the  right  of  the  chief  to 
free  quarters  and  supplies  for  himself  and  his 
retinue.  This  mode  of  life  had  such  charms  that 
even  Anglo-Irish  lords  adopted  it.  At  this  time 
equally  primitive  conditions  existed  among  the 
Celtic  peoples  of  the  Scottish  Highlands  and  in- 
deed continued  there  beyond  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. In  Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott  it  is  related 
that  on  Scott's  first  visit  to  the  Highlands  he 
found  his  host  and  three  sons,  with  attendant 
gillies,  all  stretched  half  asleep  in  their  tartans 
on  the  hearth,  with  guns  and  dogs,  and  a  pro- 
fusion of  game  around  them.  In  an  enclosure 
far  below  appeared  a  company  of  women  actively 
engaged  in  loading  a  cart  with  manure.  Scott 
was  astonished  to  find  that  these  industrious 
women  were  the  laird's  own  lady  and  her 
daughters. 

Some  writers  of  our  own  times  have  idealized 
the  pastoral  conditions  of  Celtic  Ireland.  A 
good  example  of  the  process  is  given  by  a  bril- 
liant work  on  Irish  Nationality  by  Alice  Stop- 
ford  Green.  She  holds  that  "in  the  Irish  system 
we  may  see  the  shaping  of  a  true  democracy, 
a  society  in  which  ever  broadening  masses  of  the 
people  are  made  intelligent  sharers  in  the  na- 
tional life  and  conscious  guardians  of  its  tra- 


62  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ditions."  This  projects  into  the  past  the  ideas 
of  the  present,  for  democracy  by  its  terms  is  a 
late,  elaborate,  complex  form  of  government.  In 
every  form  of  government  power  must  exist  and 
be  vested  somewhere.  That  the  rule  of  the 
people  shall  actually  exist,  it  must  have  appro- 
priate institutions  securing  and  defining  the  pub- 
lic trusteeship  of  the  actual  custodians  of 
authority,  and  this  requires  a  long  course  of 
political  evolution.  Upon  close  scrutiny  all 
democratic  government  is  found  to  rest  upon  ap- 
paratus of  sovereignty  originally  formed  on  the 
basis  of  prerogative.  Any  inquiry  into  the  ori- 
gin of  legal  institutions  discloses  this  fact.  The 
historical  process  by  which  modern  society  was 
prepared  for  democratic  government  through 
the  growth  of  monarchical  power  has  been  ac- 
curately surveyed  by  Sidgwick  in  his  Develop- 
ment of  European  Polity.  The  notion  that  any 
early  form  of  the  State  possessed  a  democratic 
character  is  a  belated  piece  of  Rousseauism.  All 
anthropological  evidence  is  in  agreement  that 
political  power  in  its  earliest  manifestations 
takes  arbitrary  forms.  In  the  primitive  form  of 
the  State,  specimens  of  which  have  been  de- 
tected among  the  Australian  aborigines,  politi- 
cal authority  is  of  a  piece  with  family  authority, 
authenticating  itself  by  its  mere  presence  and 
power.    The  community  commands  and  disposes 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE  63 

of  the  lives  of  its  units  by  transactions  as  instinct- 
ive and  impulsive  as  the  habits  of  bees  or  ants. 
The  advance  from  primitive  savagery  into  bar- 
barism is  marked  by  differentiations  of  tissue  in 
the  social  organism.  The  formation  of  the 
priest  class  and  the  warrior  class  is  an  invariable 
concomitant  of  political  evolution,  and  the  de- 
velopment of  class  consciousness  precedes  the 
diffusion  of  public  consciousness.  The  notion  of 
individual  rights  is  a  late  development  of  politi- 
cal evolution,  marking  a  very  advanced  stage  in 
the  growth  of  the  linguistic  apparatus  of 
thought.  No  such  stage  had  been  reached  in 
Celtic  Ireland.  At  the  opening  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  its  institutions  retained  their  bar- 
barian pattern  although  those  institutions  were 
in  their  dotage.3 

Authentic  traditions  indicate  that  in  the  pre- 
Christian  period  the  priest  class  was  a  mighty 
power  in  the  State,  but  that  period  had  long 
passed  away.  The  warrior  class,  however,  still 
remained,  its  arrogance  the  greater  because  all 
social  counterpoise  had  been  removed.  Its  mem- 
bers are  frequently  referred  to  in  the  State 
Papers  of  the  period  as  kerns,  galloglasses  or 
swordsmen.    They  had  the  typical  characteristics 


3  In  Appendix  A  will  be  found  an  account  by  a  contemporary 
observer  of  conditions  just  before  the  Ulster  Plantation  that 
gives  the  facts  without  romance. 


64  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

of  their  class  wherever  found  under  tribal  polity : 
disdain  of  labor,  jealous  guardianship  of  tradi- 
tional privilege,  fierce  tenacity  in  adhering  to 
their  customary  rights  to  public  support. 
Everywhere  as  advancing  civilization  eliminates 
rapine  from  among  the  economic  resources  of  the 
community,  the  pretensions  of  the  warrior  class 
have  raised  difficulties  in  the  way  of  establishing 
public  order.  One  of  the  early  tasks  of  Euro- 
pean kingship  was  to  put  down  the  robber 
knights;  and  the  work  was  not  fully  performed 
until  the  invention  and  improvement  of  artillery 
had  transferred  the  art  of  war  from  a  hand-made 
to  a  machine-made  basis.  The  Irish  galloglasses 
— and  their  close  kin,  the  moss-troopers  of  the 
Scottish  Highlands — were  survivals  of  a  type 
that  had  long  since  been  extirpated  in  the  area 
of  European  civilization.  Themselves  proud  of 
their  rank  and  its  adventurous  activities,  they 
were  detested  by  the  settled  agriculturists  of  the 
Scottish  Lowlands  and  of  the  Irish  Pale  as  savage 
ruffians  and  cattle  thieves.  Blackmail  was  paid 
to  the  Rob  Roys  of  Ireland  as  in  Scotland.  The 
Irish  State  Papers  contain  accounts  of  payments 
of  tribute  to  the  "wylde  Iryshe"  even  by  the 
King's  officers  as  a  regular  charge  in  public  ac- 
counts. Returns  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 
show  a  yearly  tribute  amounting  to  740  pounds 
paid  as  the  price  of  immunity  from  molestation. 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         65 

The  seventeenth  century  antiquary  William 
Camden  has  given  us  a  picture  of  the  Irish 
fighting-men,  a  company  of  whom  accompanied 
Shane  O'Neal  when  he  visited  the  Court  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  in  the  fifth  year  of  her  reign.  Camden 
says  the  "axe-bearing  galloglasses"  were  "bare- 
headed, with  curled  hair  hanging  down,  yellow 
surplices  dyed  with  saffron,  long  sleeves,  short 
coats  and  hairy  mantles."  These  hairy  mantles 
were  the  pelts  of  wild  animals,  probably  wolf 
skins.  The  dexterity  and  skill  with  which  the 
galloglasses  wielded  the  broad  battle-axe  are 
celebrated  in  English  accounts  of  the  Irish  wars. 
A  long  sword,  mailed  tunic  and  iron  helmet 
completed  the  equipment  as  formed  on  the  mili- 
tary practice  of  the  times,  but  the  Irish  never 
took  well  to  armor,  preferring  to  fight  in  their 
saffron  coats.  The  kerns  were  light-armed  foot- 
men, who  fought  with  a  skean,  or  sharp-edged 
dagger,  and  a  javelin. 

The  domination  of  these  warriors  was  not 
compatible  with  conditions  such  as  can  properly 
be  designated  as  democratic.  They  helped  them- 
selves as  of  right  and  the  common  people  sub- 
mitted with  customary  deference,  but  grudg- 
ingly. Any  growth  of  individual  ownership, 
privacy  of  habitation  or  enclosure  of  land  was 
in  derogation  of  their  class  privileges  and  made 
the  offender  a  mark  of  attack.     It  is  not  neces- 


68  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

sary  to  offer  evidence  to  support  so  obvious  a 
proposition  as  that  customs  permitting  an  idle 
soldiery  to  rove  about  the  lands  of  the  clan  quar- 
tering themselves  on  the  people  could  not  be 
favorable  to  morality.  In  urging  upon  Queen 
Elizabeth  his  claim  to  the  Earldom  of  Tyrone, 
the  succession  to  which  was  in  dispute,  Shane 
O'Neal  remarked  in  his  petition:  "Being  a 
gentleman,  my  father  never  refused  no  child  that 
any  woman  namyd  to  be  his."  In  a  letter  of 
May  4,  1606,  Sir  John  Davies  remarks  that  "by 
reason  and  impunity  of  the  common  use,  the 
bastard  is  of  as  good  reputation  as  the  legitimate, 
and  doth  commonly  share  the  inheritance  with 
him." 

The  difficulties  ensuing  from  the  collision  of 
civilized  polity  with  tribal  polity  were  aggra- 
vated by  religious  differences,  and  to  this  cause 
may  be  chiefly  attributed  the  marked  divergence 
between  Celtic  Scotland  and  Celtic  Ireland  in 
their  modern  history.  The  Reformation  was  a 
unifying  influence  in  Scotland,  a  divisive  influ- 
ence in  Ireland.  When  Henry  VIII.  began  his 
war  upon  papal  authority  the  ancient  Celtic 
Church,  which  in  its  day  had  made  Ireland  a 
center  of  Christian  activity,  had  long  since  disap- 
peared, and  the  establishment  that  had  absorbed 
it  had  become  full  of  the  abuses  characteristic  of 
the  times.     The  Irish  chiefs  were  as  readv  to 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         67 

share  in  the  spoil  of  Henry's  confiscations  of 
church  property  in  Ireland  as  the  English  nobles 
were  in  England.  The  English  governors  of 
Ireland  at  the  time  of  the  accession  of  James  did 
not  anticipate  much  trouble  in  securing  conform- 
ity in  matters  of  religion.  In  a  letter  to  the  home 
Government,  December  8, 1605,  Sir  John  Davies 
remarks  that  "touching  this  work  of  reforma- 
tion" he  was  strongly  persuaded  that  "it  would 
have  a  general  good  success,  for  the  Irishry, 
priests,  people  and  all  will  come  to  church"  un- 
der official  pressure.  He  mentions  how  the  mass 
of  the  people  in  England  had  yielded  to  their 
rulers  in  the  matter  of  religion,  and  remarks 
that  "the  multitude  was  ever  made  conformable 
by  edicts  and  proclamations."  This  expectation 
was  speedily  disappointed.  For  one  thing,  the 
establishment  of  religion  by  English  law  was 
made  odious  by  the  character  of  bishops  and 
clergy.  There  were  illustrious  exceptions,  but  at 
the  time  of  the  accession  of  James  the  general 
situation  was  base.  In  a  report  written  some 
time  in  1604,  Chief  Justice  Saxey  describes  the 
bishops  as  "priests  of  Jeroboam,  taken  out  of  the 
basest  of  the  people,  more  fit  to  sacrifice  to  a  calf 
than  to  intermeddle  with  the  religion  of  God." 
Writing  in  1606,  Sir  John  Davies  says  that  he 
is  informed  that: 


68  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

"The  churchmen  for  the  most  part 
throughout  the  kingdom  were  mere  idols 
and  ciphers,  and  such  as  could  not  read ;  and 
yet  the  most  of  them,  whereof  many  were 
serving  men  and  some  horseboys,  were  not 
without  two  or  three  benefices  apiece. 
Nevertheless,  for  all  their  pluralities  they 
were  most  of  them  beggars;  for  the  patron 
or  ordinary,  or  some  of  their  friends,  took 
the  greater  part  of  their  profits  by  a  plain 
contract  before  their  institution.  .  .  .  And 
what  is  the  effect  of  these  abuses?  The 
churches  are  ruined  and  fallen  down  to  the 
ground  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  There 
is  no  divine  service,  no  christening  of 
children,  no  receiving  of  the  sacrament,  no 
Christian  meeting  or  assembly,  no,  not  once 
a  year ;  in  a  word,  no  more  demonstration  of 
religion  than  among  Tartars  or  cannibals." 

This  religious  desolation  afforded  a  field  for 
missionary  labor,  cultivated  with  such  zeal  and 
energy  by  the  religious  orders  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  that  the  people  were  gathered 
into  that  communion  and  confirmed  in  their  at- 
tachment as  never  before.  Whatever  grounds 
for  Sir  John  Davies'  opinion  of  Irish  pliability 
existed  when  it  was  uttered,  they  were  soon  con- 
clusively removed.  The  friars  who  had  been 
turned  out  of  doors  by  Henry's  suppression  of 
the  monasteries  had  in  large  numbers  continued 
to  work  and  preach  among  the  people,  and  under 
the  chastening  influence  of  adversity  the  immo- 
ralities formerly  charged  against  some  of  them 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         69 

tended  to  disappear.  The  restoration  of  disci- 
pline and  the  purification  of  morals  were  really 
facilitated  by  the  prostrate  condition  of  the 
church.  No  legal  obstacles  would  be  raised 
against  correctional  measures  taken  by  ecclesias- 
tical authority  that  was  itself  outlawed.  Among 
the  Irish  State  Papers  for  1613  there  is  a  report 
on  the  work  of  a  Franciscan  friar  that  doubt- 
less gives  a  faithful  picture  of  activities  charac- 
teristic of  this  period.  At  a  meeting  in  the 
county  of  Londonderry  the  friar  had  before  him 
all  the  priests  of  those  parts  to  the  number  of 
fourteen.  "He  prayed  long,  exhorting  them  to 
reform  their  wicked  lives,  telling  them  of  drunk- 
enness, whoredom,  and  lack  of  devotion  and  zeal." 
The  friar  did  not  depend  on  exhortation  alone 
but  applied  sharp  discipline.  The  report  goes 
on  to  say  that  he  "compels  all  priests  to  put 
away  their  wives  and  whores,  or  else  he  deprives 
them  of  their  living  and  makes  them  incapable  to 
say  mass  or  exercise  their  functions." 

Such  acts  imply  possession  of  large  ecclesiasti- 
cal authority.  The  State  Papers  afford  plenty 
of  evidence  that  persons  described  as  wandering 
friars  must  in  fact  have  been  high  dignitaries  of 
the  Church  of  Rome.  Eventually  the  Govern- 
ment obtained  lists  of  bishops  that  had  been  or- 
dained and  commissioned  to  the  work  in  Ireland. 
The  Jesuits,  who  flocked  into  Ireland  in  large 


70  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

numbers,  displayed  an  energy  and  an  activity 
that  alarmed  and  incensed  the  Government  offi- 
cials. In  a  report  sent  to  the  home  Government 
October  27,  1607,  the  Lord  Deputy  and  Council 
say  that  priests  and  Jesuits  land  in  every  part, 
sometimes  a  dozen  together  and  then  disperse 
themselves : 

".  .  .  in  such  sort  that  every  town  and 
county  is  full  of  them,  and  most  men's 
minds  are  infected  with  their  doctrines  and 
seditious  persuasions.  They  have  so  gained 
the  women  that  they  are  in  a  manner  all  of 
them  absolute  recusants.  Children  and 
servants  are  wholly  taught  and  catechised  by 
them.  .  .  .  They  withdraw  many  from  the 
church  that  formerly  had  conformed  them- 
selves; and  others  of  whom  good  hope  had 
been  conceived,  they  have  made  altogether 
obstinate,  disobedient  and  contemptuous." 

The  movement  that  the  Government  officials 
describe  with  so  much  acrimony  they  found  it 
impossible  to  arrest.  The  Reformation  cut  Scot- 
land and  England  away  from  the  papal  see,  but 
left  Ireland  more  firmly  united  and  more  deeply 
loyal  than  before,  but  this  religious  divergence  is 
to  be  attributed  rather  to  historical  circumstances 
than  to  any  peculiarities  of  the  Irish  character. 
It  is  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  the  Counter- 
Reformation  by  which  abuses  were  corrected, 
morals  were  purified  and  faith  was  revived 
within  the  communion  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         71 

This  revival  of  spiritual  energy  was  in  full  vigor 
at  the  time  when  the  Irish  people  were  practically 
unchurched.  The  situation  afforded  large  op- 
portunity to  the  missionary  zeal  then  abounding 
and  it  was  utilized  with  such  energy  and 
devotion  as  to  stamp  the  national  character. 
Within  a  decade  there  was  a  change  for  the 
better  in  the  condition  of  the  established 
church;  but  it  came  too  late  to  recover  lost 
ground,  and  the  outlawed  Church  of  Rome 
remained  in  secure  possession  of  the  loyalty  of 
the  Irish  masses. 

It  is  clear  enough  now  that  in  dealing  with 
this  situation  wise  statesmanship  would  have 
sought  to  connect  the  interests  of  the  masses  of 
the  people  with  the  system  of  law  and  order 
which  it  was  proposed  to  introduce.  The  con- 
version of  tribal  right  into  legal  right  should 
have  been  accompanied  by  an  equitable  distri- 
bution of  the  land  among  chiefs  and  people. 
Virtually  this  process  is  going  on  in  our  own 
times  under  the  operation  of  the  land  laws,  by 
schemes  of  purchase  and  re-allotment  sustained 
by  the  public  credit,  and  the  ultimate  effect  will 
undoubtedly  be  a  transformation  of  Irish  social 
and  political  conditions.  The  time  is  approach- 
ing when  it  will  appear  that  Irish  character  is 
no  more  inadequate  to  sustain  orderly  and  effi- 
cient   government    than    any    other    European 


72  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

stock.    It  is  a  matter  of  race  discipline  and  race 
experience    rather   than    of   innate    disposition. 
The  qualities  of  shiftlessness  and  improvidence 
proverbially  attributed  to  the  Irish  peasantry 
used  to  be  imputed  to  the  French  peasantry  be- 
fore the  changes  in  land  tenure  accomplished  by 
the  French  Revolution.     But  such  penetrating 
treatment    of    the    situation    was    beyond    the 
thought  and  capacity  of  statesmanship  at  the 
time    of    the    Ulster    plantation.      Sovereignty 
was  too  undeveloped,  the  State  was  too  lacking 
in  efficient  organization  to  cope  with  such  tasks 
as  the  equitable  transfer  of  a  people  from  a 
tribal  to  a  legal  status.     Outside  of  the  limited 
area  known  as  the  Pale  there  were  no  judges,  no 
juries,  no  sessions  of  the  courts  in  Ireland.    The 
clansmen  lived  under  the  customary  law  of  the 
septs,  administered  by  their  chiefs.     The  situ- 
ation was  something  like  that  which  confronted 
the  English  in  India  nearly  two  centuries  later, 
when    they    acquired    administrative    authority 
over  peoples  among  whom  English  law  did  not 
extend,  and  actuated  by  considerations  of  ad- 
ministrative convenience  they  set  up  a  landlord 
system  that  disregarded  the  customary  rights  to 
the  soil  of  the  actual  cultivators,  converting  them 
from    co-proprietors    into    tenants-at-will.      It 
eventually    turned    out    that    the    arrangement 
perpetrated  injustice,  but  at  the  time  it  pre- 
sented itself  as  a  public  necessity. 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         73 

It  is  easy  to  criticize  the  administrative  short- 
comings of  one  age  from  the  mature  knowledge 
and  experience  of  a  later  age,  but  that  is  not  the 
way  to  obtain  insight.  To  appreciate  the  char- 
acter of  any  age  one  must  read  down  to  it  and 
not  back  to  it.  To  understand  the  nature  of 
events  one  must  view  them  in  genetic  order. 
The  English  administrators  in  Ireland,  working 
by  the  light  of  their  own  times,  felt  no  scruples 
as  to  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  their  plans  for 
reclaiming  Ulster  from  barbarism.  The  lands 
were  escheated  to  the  Crown  as  the  result  of  the 
treason  of  the  lords.  What  more  proper  course 
to  pursue  than  to  do  as  had  often  been  done  in 
England  itself,  turn  the  lands  over  to  the  loyal 
lords,  for  occupancy  by  them  and  their  retainers! 
No  scruples  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  course 
actually  pursued  appear  to  have  been  felt  by 
anybody  except  Chichester,  and  his  were  based 
on  practical  and  personal  considerations.  He 
thought  it  would  have  been  wiser  to  make  a  more 
liberal  provision  for  the  native  Irish  and  he 
feared  that  his  own  promise  to  the  Irish  had  not 
been  sufficiently  respected. 

Measures  by  which  it  was  sought  to  break  up 
Irish  tribal  institutions  had  long  been  pursued. 
In  the  time  of  Elizabeth  severe  laws  were  passed 
against  bards  and  "shanachies,"  or  historians  of 
the  clan.    Soon  after  the  accession  of  James  the 


74  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

courts  declared  illegal  the  native  system  of  in- 
heritance known  as  tanistry  and  gavelkind,  based 
upon  the  principle  of  collective  ownership.  This 
had  been  frequently  recommended  by  English 
administrators  in  Ireland,  who  regarded  it  as  a 
necessary  reform.  A  State  Paper  of  1611  set 
forth  among  "Motives  of  Importance  for  hold- 
ing a  Parliament  in  Ireland"  that  "all  the 
possessions  of  the  Irish  shall  from  henceforth 
descend  and  be  conveyed  according  to  the  course 
of  the  common  law  of  England,  and  not  accord- 
ing to  the  barbarous  customs  of  tanistrie  or 
gavelkinde."  Religious  conformity  was  aimed 
at  by  a  series  of  laws  and  proclamations  against 
recusancy,  which  were  futile  save  as  sources  of 
irritation  and  which  Chichester  came  to  regard 
as  so  troublesome  and  impolitic  that  eventually 
he  resigned  rather  than  administer  them. 

These  measures  belong  to  Irish  history  in  gen- 
eral, and  in  view  of  the  colonization  which  took 
place  they  were  of  less  immediate  importance 
in  Ulster  than  elsewhere.  The  great  adminis- 
trative task  in  Ulster  was  to  dispose  of  the  war- 
rior class.  It  was  thought  that  since  their  trade 
was  fighting  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  send 
them  into  foreign  service.  Sweden  then  ranked 
as  a  powerful  State  aiming  at  empire,  and  her 
wars  with  Russia,  Poland  and  Denmark  at- 
tracted  military   adventurers,    including   many 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         75 

from  Scotland.  In  1609  it  was  arranged  that 
1,000  Irish  fighting-men  should  be  sent  to 
Sweden.  Writing  from  Fermanagh,  September 
18,  1609,  Chichester  says  that  he  had  accepted 
the  submission  of  two  chieftans  in  that  county 
with  their  followers,  "who  so  freely  proffered 
themselves  to  this  service  for  avoiding  further 
danger  by  the  prosecutions  he  made  upon  them.,, 
When  ships  arrived  to  transport  them  to 
Sweden  Chichester  had  a  different  tale  to  tell. 
In  a  letter,  October  8,  1609,  he  says  that  "idlers 
and  swordmen  everywhere  (especially  in  the 
province  of  Ulster)  now  withdrew  themselves 
into  the  woods."  Before  the  end  of  that  month, 
however,  three  ships  sailed  from  Derry  with  800 
men.  Another  ship  was  about  departing  from 
Carlingford  when  the  swordmen  seized  the  ship 
and  tried  to  run  her  ashore  so  that  they  might 
escape.  Chichester  acted  with  characteristic 
energy,  mustering  a  force  that  attacked  the  ship 
with  boats  and  put  down  the  mutiny.  Some  of 
the  ringleaders  were  hanged.  This  ship  seems 
to  have  been  doomed  to  disaster,  for  it  was  soon 
wrecked  on  the  Isle  of  Man  and  had  to  put  into 
a  port  of  Scotland  for  relief.  There  another  ship 
was  hired,  but  this  was  driven  into  Newcastle 
where  a  body  of  the  Irish  escaped. 

Chichester  had  a  low  opinion  of  swordmen. 
"To  speak  generally,"  he  said  in  one  of  his  re- 


76  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ports,  "they  were  all  but  an  unprofitable  burden 
of  the  earth,  cruel,  wild,  malefactors,  thieves." 
But  he  had  the  discernment  to  observe  that  it 
would  be  good  policy  to  utilize  their  own  native 
customs  and  habits  of  allegiance  to  their  chiefs. 
Writing  to  the  English  Privy  Council,  October 
31,  1609,  he  recommends  that  in  making  levies 
for  foreign  service  he  be  allowed  "to  appoint  the 
commanders,  such  as  he  in  his  knowledge  and 
experience  of  them  shall  think  most  popular  with 
the  nation;  for  they  will  distaste  and  avoid  all 
strange  commanders."  This  anticipates  the 
policy  pursued  by  the  elder  Pitt  a  century  and 
a  half  later  when  he  extracted  the  spirit  of  turbu- 
lence from  the  Highland  glens  by  forming  the 
clansmen  into  regiments  officered  by  their 
chiefs.  In  Chichester's  day  the  regimental  sys- 
tem did  not  exist,  and  armies  were  composed  of 
casual  levies.  Chichester  found  that  the  sword- 
men  did  not  like  to  enter  the  Swedish  service,  an 
antipathy  readily  accounted  for  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  the  King  of  Sweden  was  a 
Protestant  champion  and  that  the  influence  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  was  now  active 
among  the  people.  Chichester  twice  urged  the 
Privy  Council  that  the  swordmen  be  employed 
in  the  service  of  Russia  rather  than  of  Sweden, 
but  nothing  appears  to  have  come  of  the  sug- 
gestion.   Nevertheless,  it  appears  from  Chiches- 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         77 

ter's  own  statement  that  he  sent  away  6,000  men 
for  service  in  the  Swedish  wars. 

The  removal  of  so  large  a  number  of  the  war- 
rior class  seems  to  have  aided  in  the  pacification 
of  the  country.  It  appears  that  the  common 
people  were  patient  and  submissive  as  the  Un- 
dertakers and  their  followers  made  their  entry 
upon  the  land.  On  September  24,  1610,  Sir 
John  Davies  wrote  to  the  home  Government  in 
a  characteristic  strain  of  cheerful  optimism.  He 
remarks  that  the  natives  were  choosing  to  be 
tenants-at-will  rather  than  receive  land  as  free- 
holders "for  which  they  would  be  compelled  to 
serve  in  juries."  Davies  proceeds:  "All  the 
Irish  (the  chief  lords  excepted)  desire  naturally 
to  be  followers,  and  cannot  live  without  a  master, 
and  for  the  most  part  they  love  every  master 
alike,  so  he  be  present  to  protect  and  defend 
them."  And  therefore  he  is  of  opinion  that,  "if 
they  were  once  settled  under  the  servitors,  the 
bishops,  or  others  who  may  receive  Irish  ten- 
ants, they  would  follow  them  as  willingly,  and 
rest  as  well  contented  under  their  wings,  as 
young  pheasants  do  under  the  wings  of  a  home- 
hen,  though  she  be  not  their  natural  mother." 

Chichester,  the  soldier,  showed  a  more  pene- 
trating judgment  of  the  situation  than  Davies, 
the  jurist.  Writing  about  the  same  time  that 
Davies  expressed  his  confidence  in  the  tranquility 


78  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

of  Ulster,  Chichester  expressed  doubts  as  to  the 
prospects  of  the  plantation: 

"But  to  hinder  the  same  the  natives  of 
those  countries  will  do  what  in  them  shall  lie, 
for  they  are  generally  discontented,  and  re- 
pine greatly  at  their  fortunes  and  the  small 
quantity  of  land  left  them  upon  the  divi- 
sion; especially  those  of  the  counties  of 
Tyrone,  Ardmagh  and  Colerayne,  who  hav- 
ing reformed  themselves  in  their  habit  and 
course  of  life  beyond  others  and  the  common 
expectation  held  of  them  (for  all  that  were 
able  had  put  on  English  apparel,  and  prom- 
ised to  live  in  townredes,  and  to  leave  their 
creaghting)  had  assured  themselves  of  better 
conditions  from  the  King  than  those  they 
lived  in  under  their  former  landlords:  but 
now  they  say  they  have  not  land  given  to 
them,  nor  can  they  be  admitted  tenants, 
which  is  very  grievous  unto  them." 

Chichester  complains  that  he  himself  has  been 
discredited  by  the  proceedings  of  the  land  com- 
missioners, and  "he  prays  that  he  may  not  be 
guided  by  any  directions  of  theirs,  for  they 
know  not  Ireland  so  well  as  he  does,  especially 
Ulster."  He  points  out  that  the  grievances  of 
the  common  people  afford  grounds  upon  which 
the  priests  can  stir  up  disaffection.    He  remarks : 

"The  priests  now  preach  little  other  doc- 
trine to  them,  but  they  are  a  despised  peo- 
ple, and  worse  dealt  with  than  any  nation 
hath  ever  been  heard  or  read  of;  for  being 
received  to  mercy  upon  their  humble  sub- 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE         70 

missions,  their  bodies,  goods,  and  lands  were 
taken  into  the  King's  protection,  but  now 
they  are  injuriously  thrust  out  of  their 
houses,  and  places  of  habitation,  and  be  com- 
pelled, like  vagabonds,  to  go  they  know  not 
whither." 

Chichester  concludes  that  "how  ill  soever  they 
be  disposed,  he  sees  not  how  they  can  rebel  in 
any  great  numbers  unless  they  have  assistance  of 
arms  and  munition  from  foreign  parts."  Never- 
theless he  suggests  that  it  would  be  wise  to  treat 
them  with  more  consideration.  Chichester  has 
been  represented  as  a  hard,  ruthless  soldier, 
whose  policy  in  Ulster  is  marked  by  covetous- 
ness,  but  his  own  pen  has  unconsciously  drawn 
for  us  his  true  portrait  as  a  man  who  excelled  his 
contemporaries  in  justice  and  discernment. 

Before  the  Ulster  plantation  began  there  was 
already  a  considerable  Scottish  occupation  of  the 
region  nearest  to  Scotland.  These  Scotch  set- 
tlements were  confined  to  Counties  Down  and 
Antrim,  which  were  not  included  in  the  scheme 
of  the  plantation.  Their  existence  facilitated 
Scottish  emigration  to  the  plantation,  and  they 
were  influential  in  giving  the  plantation  the 
Scottish  character  which  it  promptly  acquired. 
Although  planned  to  be  in  the  main  an  English 
settlement,  with  one  whole  county  turned  over 
to  the  City  of  London  alone,  it  soon  became  in 
the  main  a  Scottish  settlement. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Scotch  Migration  to  Ulster 

The  racial  elements  that  have  gone  into  the 
making  of  Scotland  are  matters  upon  which 
there  are  sharp  differences  among  specialists  in 
this  field.  The  first  chapter  of  Andrew  Lang's 
History  of  Scotland  gives  a  statement  of  the 
conflicting  views  that  are  expressed  upon  ethnic 
questions.  The  great  question  is :  Who  were  the 
Picts?  An  eminent  Celtic  scholar,  Professor 
Rhys,  mainly  upon  philological  grounds  holds 
that  they  were  members  not  of  the  Celtic  but  of 
some  non- Aryan  race,  enmeshed  by  Celtic  mi- 
gration like  the  Basques  of  France.  Mr.  Lang 
himself  concludes  that  they  were  simply  a  Celtic 
tribe,  the  ancestors  in  some  degree  of  the  present 
Highlanders.  In  Scotland  as  in  England  the 
historical  data  point  to  Teutonic  and  Scandi- 
navian invasion  pushing  back  the  Celtic  tribes. 
Mr.  Lang  points  out  that  there  is  no  marked 
difference  in  the  racial  composition  of  the  people 
between  the  Scottish  Lowlands  and  the  adjacent 
parts  of  England.  In  both  countries  the  people 
spoke  a  language  now  designated  as  Early  Eng- 

80 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  81 

lish.  The  two  regions  were  one  geographically. 
Mr.  Lang  remarks:  "Nothing  in  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  country  contains  a  prophecy  of  this 
separation  of  the  Teutonic  or  English  conquer- 
ors of  Southern  Scotland  into  a  separate  Scot- 
tish nation.  The  severance  of  the  English  north 
and  south  of  the  Tweed  was  the  result  of  his- 
torical events." 

Substantially  the  same  view  is  taken  in  T.  F. 
Henderson's  history  of  Scottish  Vernacular 
Literature.  He  holds  that:  "The  Scottish  ver- 
nacular is  mainly  a  development  of  the  Teutonic 
dialect  of  that  Northumbria  which  embraces  the 
more  eastern  portion  of  Britain  from  the  Hum- 
ber  to  the  Firth  of  Forth.  Here  the  Saxons  ob- 
tained a  firm  footing  early  in  the  sixth  century, 
the  Cymri  being,  after  a  series  of  desperate 
struggles,  either  conquered  or  forced  gradually 
westward  until  they  concentrated  in  Cumbria  or 
Strathclyde,  between  the  Mersey  and  the  Clyde, 
where  for  some  centuries  they  maintained  a 
fragile  independence.  .  .  .  The  triumph  of  the 
Saxon  element  was  finally  assured  by  the  great 
influx  of  Saxons  during  the  period  of  the  Nor- 
man conquest.  .  .  .  The  Teutonic  speech  and 
civilization  gradually  penetrated  into  every  dis- 
trict of  the  Scottish  Lowlands." 

Mr.  Henderson  points  out  that  "when  it  first 
emerges  from  obscurity  toward  the  close  of  the 


82  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

fourteenth  century,  the  literary  language  of 
the  Scottish  Lowlands  is  found  to  be  practi- 
cally identical  with  that  of  England  north  of 
the  Humber."  Early  English  exhibited  three 
dialects,  Northern,  Midland  and  Southern. 
The  Midland  dialect  became  the  sole  literary  lan- 
guage of  England,  the  Northern  and  the  South- 
ern dialects  "vanishing  almost  entirely  from 
English  literature."  In  the  Scottish  Lowlands 
the  Northern  dialect  survived  and  from  it  the 
literary  language  of  Scotland  was  fashioned.  In 
support  of  these  views  Mr.  Henderson  points 
out  that  early  Scottish,  the  Scottish  of  Barbour 
and  Wyntoun  (fourteenth  century),  "differs 
but  slightly,  if  at  all,  from  Northern  English. " 
At  a  later  period  the  difference  became  marked. 

The  matter  of  ethnic  origins  has  been  touched 
upon,  because  some  writers  upon  the  Scotch- 
Irish  have  placed  the  Picts,  the  Caledonians  and 
other  early  inhabitants  of  Scotland  among  the 
forebears  of  the  Scottish  settlers  in  Ulster.  But 
as  a  matter  of  fact  the  settlers  were  almost  as 
English  in  racial  derivation  as  if  they  had  come 
from  the  North  of  England.  Occasional  allusions 
in  the  State  Papers  show  that  the  Government 
had  in  mind  the  English-speaking  districts  of 
Scotland  and  not  the  Gaelic  regions  as  the  source 
from  which  settlers  should  be  drawn.  Indeed, 
the  conditions  were  such  that  the  Ulster  planta- 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  83 

tion  appeared  as  part  of  the  general  campaign 
carried  on  to  break  down  Celtic  tribal  polity 
and  to  extend  civilized  polity  in  both  Ireland  and 
Scotland.  During  the  O'Dogherty  insurrection 
Chichester  wrote  to  the  Scottish  Privy  Council 
advising  that  the  sea-passage  between  Western 
Scotland  and  Northern  Ireland  be  guarded  to 
prevent  the  recruiting  of  the  Ulster  rebels  by 
sympathizing  fellow-Celts  from  Kintyre,  Islay, 
Arran,  and  the  neighboring  islands.  The  Scot- 
tish Privy  Council  on  the  receipt  of  the  news  of 
O'Dogherty's  rising  had  been  quick  to  perceive 
the  danger  of  sympathetic  disturbance  in  Gaelic 
Scotland,  and  before  they  heard  from  Chichester 
they  had  issued  a  proclamation  forbidding  any 
aid  from  the  southwestern  shires  to  the  Ulster 
rebels  on  pain  of  death.  In  later  correspondence, 
after  O'Dogherty's  rising  had  been  suppressed, 
Chichester  referred  to  his  own  work  in  Ulster 
and  the  work  which  the  Scottish  Council  had  in 
hand  against  the  Celts  of  the  western  Scottish 
islands  as  but  two  branches  of  one  and  the  same 
service. 

Irish  history  during  this  period  has  been  kept 
under  the  spot-light  so  much  as  to  create  an  im- 
pression that  English  policy  in  Ireland  was 
somewhat  singular  in  character  and  was  actuated 
by  special  animosity.  No  support  to  this  notion 
is  found  in  the  State  Papers.    In  them  the  Ulster 


84  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

plantation  appears  as  part  of  a  general  forward 
movement  against  barbarism.  So  far  as  treat- 
ment of  the  native  inhabitants  goes  the  measures 
taken  in  Ireland  seem  less  severe  than  those  taken 
in  Scotland  itself.  The  reign  of  James  was 
marked  by  a  determined  effort  to  crush  the 
marauding  spirit  of  Gaelic  Scotland  and  to  sup- 
press the  feuds  that  were  carried  on  in  defiance 
of  law.  An  armed  expedition  to  the  western 
islands  was  fitted  out  in  1608,  and  many  castles 
were  seized  and  dangerous  chiefs  were  arrested 
both  in  the  islands  and  the  neighboring  parts  of 
the  mainland.  Andrew  Stewart,  Lord  Ochil- 
tree, who  was  in  command  of  this  expedition,  be- 
came one  of  the  Ulster  Undertakers.  His  name 
did  not  appear  in  the  original  list,  but  on  return- 
ing to  Edinburgh,  triumphant  from  his  expedi- 
tion, he  was  sent  to  London  to  make  his  report 
to  the  King.  When  the  revision  was  made  by  the 
King  and  the  English  Privy  Council  of  the  list 
of  applicants  submitted  by  the  Scottish  Privy 
Council,  the  name  of  Lord  Ochiltree  appears  as 
Undertaker  for  3,000  acres  in  County  Tyrone. 

The  steady  pursuit  of  the  Clan  MacGregor  in 
the  main  Highlands  is  an  evidence  of  the  de- 
termination to  crush  outlawry  at  any  cost.  They 
are  described  in  proclamations  as  that  unhappy 
race  which  has  so  long  continued  "in  bluid,  thift, 
reif  and  oppression."    The  members  of  the  clan 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  85 

were  proscribed  and  the  use  of  the  very  name 
was  prohibited.  The  war  on  these  wild  clansmen 
went  on  for  many  years.  In  1604  Alexander 
MacGregor  of  Glenstrae,  chief  of  the  clan,  and 
eleven  of  his  principal  kinsmen  and  retainers, 
were  hanged  and  quartered  at  the  Market  Cross 
in  Edinburgh.  In  August,  1610,  a  commission 
of  fire  and  sword  against  the  MacGregors  was 
issued  to  twenty-eight  nobles  and  lairds  in  terri- 
tories surrounding  the  MacGregor  country.  By 
proclamation  the  King's  lieges  were  warned  not 
to  assist  any  of  the  clan,  their  wives,  children  or 
servants  nor  have  any  intercourse  with  them.  In 
1611,  after  a  preamble  declaring  that  the  clans- 
men still  persist  in  their  "barbarous  and  wicked 
lyff,"  the  Earl  of  Argyle  is  commissioned  to  root 
out  and  extirpate  all  of  that  race,  until,  says  the 
King,  "they  be  ather  reducit  to  our  obedience  or 
ruitit  out  of  our  kingdome."  Notwithstanding 
these  energetic  measures  a  report  of  1613  says 
that  remnants  of  the  clan  have  again  begun  to  go 
about  the  country  "sorning,  oppressing,  quarrel- 
ing, where  they  may  be  masters  and  command- 
ers." "Sorning"  is  the  Highland  equivalent  of 
the  Irish  "coshering,"  the  privilege  claimed  by 
the  warrior  class  of  living  on  forced  hospitality. 
The  harrying  of  the  MacGregors  went  on  by  fits 
and  starts  for  many  years. 

Besides    these    campaigns    to    introduce    the 


86  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

King's  law  into  Celtic  Scotland,  the  Government 
had  to  deal  with  the  habits  of  rapine  which  had 
been  implanted  by  centuries  of  border  warfare, 
and  which  possessed  something  of  a  patriotic 
character  when  Scotland  and  England  were  tra- 
ditional enemies.  Now  that  a  Scottish  King  had 
mounted  the  English  throne  the  further  continu- 
ance of  border  lawlessness  became  intolerable.  It 
was  put  down  with  ruthless  energy.  The  English 
and  Scottish  shires  which  had  formerly  been  "The 
Borders"  were  rechristened  by  James  in  1603  as 
"The  Middle  Shires  of  Great  Britain"  and  the 
administration  was  put  into  the  hands  of  ten 
commissioners,  five  for  each  side,  each  set  of 
commissioners  executing  their  orders  through  an 
appointed  chief  of  mounted  police.  The  Scottish 
State  Papers  from  April,  1605,  to  April,  1607, 
contain  abundant  evidences  of  the  activity  of  the 
Scottish  commissioners.  Their  chief  of  police 
was  Sir  William  Cranstoun,  and  with  his  force 
of  twenty-five  horsemen  he  scoured  the  Borders, 
arresting  murderers  and  robbers  and  bringing 
them  before  justice  courts  held  by  commissioners 
from  time  to  time  at  stated  places.  At  the  end 
of  the  first  year  the  commissioners  give  the  names 
of  thirty-two  persons  hanged  for  their  crimes, 
fifteen  persons  banished,  and  above  seven  score 
in  the  condition  of  fugitive  outlaws,  who  should 
be  pursued  with  hue  and  cry  wherever  they  might 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  87 

be  found.  In  October,  1606,  fifteen  more  of  these 
Border  outlaws  were  hanged  and  by  the  end  of 
the  year  the  list  of  fugitives  had  increased*  to 
thirteen  score,  whose  names  were  to  be  advertised 
on  the  market  crosses  of  all  towns  and  the  doors 
of  all  parish  kirks  in  all  the  "in-countrey."  The 
Scottish  Privy  Council  sustained  this  work  with 
hard  resolution.  The  commissioners  reported 
periodically  to  the  Council,  asking  instructions 
upon  difficult  points,  sometimes  referring  a  case 
in  which  they  think  there  might  be  mercy,  but  in 
every  such  case  the  Council  sent  back  word  to 
"execute  justice,"  which  meant  that  the  culprit 
should  be  put  to  death. 

Besides  hanging  and  banishing,  the  commis- 
sioners were  active  in  breaking  up  the  nests  of 
outlawry.  The  houses  of  thieving  families  were 
searched  for  stolen  goods,  the  iron  gates  that 
barred  entrance  were  removed  and  dragged  away 
to  be  turned  into  plough  irons.  The  official 
record  of  those  who  were  hanged  doubtless  fell 
short  of  the  actual  number  put  to  death,  for  Sir 
William  Cranstoun  thought  it  necessary  to  ob- 
tain an  act  of  indemnity,  which  was  granted  by 
the  King,  December  15, 1606.  It  sets  forth  as  its 
occasion  that  he  had  been  moved  "often  tymes 
summarlie  to  mak  a  quick  dispatche  of  a  grite 
mony  notable  and  notorious  thevis  and  villanes 
by  putting  thame  to  present  death  without  pre- 


88  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ceiding  try  all  of  jurye  or  assyse  or  pronuncia- 
tioun  of  ony  conviction  or  dome." 

Among  the  names  of  malefactors  officially 
returned  as  having  been  hanged  by  order  of  the 
justice  courts  are  such  good  patronyms  as  Arm- 
strong, Gilchrist,  Johnstone,  Milburn,  Patter- 
son, Scott,  and  Wallis.  This  Scott  may  well  have 
been  a  kinsman  of  the  great  author,  for  in  times 
when  Border  lawlessness  had  been  so  long  extinct 
as  to  be  susceptible  of  romantic  treatment  Sir 
Walter  was  pleased  to  claim  Border  outlaws  as 
among  his  forbears.  The  Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel  describes  the  stronghold  of  Auld  Wat 
of  whom  the  poet  says : 

"But  what  the  niggard  ground  of  wealth  denied, 
From  fields  more  blessed  his  fearless  arm  supplied." 

Of  Auld  Wat's  bride,  Mary  Scott,  "the  Flower 
of  Yarrow,"  Lockhart  relates  that  "when  the 
last  bullock  which  Auld  Wat  had  provided  from 
the  English  pastures  was  consumed  the  Flower 
of  Yarrow  placed  on  her  table  a  dish  containing 
a  pair  of  clean  spurs;  a  hint  to  the  company  that 
they  must  bestir  themselves  for  their  next  din- 
ner." As  the  Flower  of  Yarrow  married  Auld 
Wat  in  1567,  the  halcyon  days  of  her  predatory 
housekeeping  were  separated  by  little  more  than 
one  generation  from  the  stern  suppression  of 
such  methods.    The  effect  of  the  thorough  work 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  89 

of  King  James'  commissioners  was  very  marked. 
The  Borders  were  so  tamed  and  disciplined  that 
in  1610  Chancellor  Dunferline  was  able  to  assure 
the  King  that  they  had  been  purged  "of  all  the 
chief  est  malefactors,  robbers  and  brigands"  as 
completely  as  Hercules  had  cleansed  the  Augean 
stables  and  that  they  were  now  "as  lawful,  as 
peaceable  and  quiet  as  any  part  of  any  civil 
kingdom  in  Christianity." 

There  is  evidence  that  the  chronic  turbulence 
of  the  Borders  was  not  so  completely  suppressed 
as  would  seem  from  the  Chancellor's  account,  but 
the  opening  of  safe  land-passage  for  steady  trade 
between  the  two  kingdoms  appears  to  date  from 
that  period.  The  memorials  of  the  period  of 
turbulence  were  eventually  converted  by  the  re- 
lieved people  into  materials  for  legend  and  song, 
but  this  poetry  of  the  situation  did  not  appear 
until  the  prosaic  aspect  had  been  established  to 
which  Dr.  Johnson  adverted  when  he  remarked 
that  the  noblest  prospect  a  Scotchman  could  see 
was  the  high  road  that  led  to  England.  The 
enlargement  of  commercial  intercourse  and  the 
growth  of  business  opportunity  were  essential 
features  of  the  pacification  of  the  Borders,  as  of 
all  regions  brought  under  the  rule  of  law.  Severe 
and  terrifying  punishment  of  crime  is  an  indis- 
pensable agency  in  disciplining  a  people  addicted 
to  rapine,  but  in  compelling  them  to  live  by 


90  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

honest    industry    the    law    must    afford    them 
opportunity. 

To  complete  this  account  of  the  conditions  in 
Scotland  from  which  the  Ulster  settlers  derived 
their  habits  of  thought  it  should  be  added  that 
the  Ulster  settlement  was  essentially  a  migra- 
tion from  the  Lowlands.  The  elements  of  the 
population  to  whom  the  opportunity  appealed 
are  displayed  by  the  first  list  of  Undertakers. 
It  was  mainly  composed  of  sons  and  brothers 
of  lairds,  sons  of  ministers,  and  burgesses  or 
sons  of  burgesses  in  the  shires  south  of  the  Firth 
of  Forth,  and  nearly  all  were  from  the  up- 
per tier  of  those  shires  from  Edinburgh  to  Glas- 
gow. A  few  names  appear  from  Border  shires, 
among  them  Robert  Stewart  of  Robertoun,  a 
parish  of  Roxburghshire  in  which  was  situated 
Harden  Castle,  the  seat  of  Auld  Wat's  power. 
This  Robert  Stewart  received  a  grant  of  1,000 
acres  in  County  Tyrone.  A  grant  of  1,500  acres 
in  the  same  county  was  made  to  Sir  Robert  Hep- 
burn, a  lieutenant  of  the  King's  Guard.  This 
was  a  force  employed  in  the  general  justiciary 
work  of  the  Scottish  Privy  Council,  outside  of 
the  special  jurisdiction  of  the  Border  commis- 
sioners. 

The  Scots  that  flocked  into  Ulster  carried  with 
them  prepossessions  and  antipathies  implanted 
by  centuries  of  conflict  with  predatory  clansmen. 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  91 

The  monkish  writer  Gildas,  A.D.  560,  describes 
the  Picts  as  "a  set  of  bloody  free-booters  with 
more  hair  on  their  thieves'  faces  than  clothes  to 
cover  their  nakedness."  This  might  serve  as  well 
for  a  concise  expression  of  Lowland  opinion  of 
the  Celtic  clansmen  at  the  time  of  the  Ulster  set- 
tlement. The  Lowlanders  were  accustomed  to 
regarding  the  clansmen  as  raiders,  pillagers,  cat- 
tle-thieves, and  murderers.  The  abduction  and 
ravishing  of  women  were  crimes  so  frequent  as 
to  engage  the  particular  attention  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Hardened  by  perpetual  contact  with 
barbarism,  the  Lowlanders  had  no  scruples  about 
making  merciless  reprisals.  The  people  were 
hard;  the  law  was  hard.  It  was  an  iron  age. 
One  of  the  acts  of  the  Scottish  Parliament  at 
this  period  declared  that  every  man  and  woman 
of  the  Gypsy  race  found  in  Scotland  after  a 
certain  date  should  be  liable  to  death  and  per- 
sons giving  them  accommodations  should  be  liable 
to  fine  and  imprisonment.  Mention  of  arrests 
for  sorcery  and  witchcraft  is  found  in  the  records. 
The  proceedings  of  the  Privy  Council  for  1608 
contain  a  report  by  the  Earl  of  Mar  of  the  burn- 
ing of  some  witches  at  Breichin.  "Sum  of  thame 
deit  in  dispair,  renunceand  and  blasphemeand, 
and  utheris  half  brunt,  brak  out  of  the  fyre,  and 
wes  cast  in  quick  in  it  agane  quhill  thay  wer 
brunt  to  the  deid."    This  horrible  scene  of  human 


92  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

misery  was  evidently  viewed  with  grim  com- 
posure. There  is  not  a  word  to  indicate  that  the 
event  was  even  deplored. 

The  greater  avidity  with  which  the  Ulster  op- 
portunity was  seized  in  the  Scottish  Lowlands 
than  in  England,  which  had  the  prior  claim,  is  to 
be  attributed  to  the  chronic  need  of  Scotland  for 
outlets  to  the  energies  of  her  people.  The  mi- 
grating Scot  was  a  familiar  figure  in  continental 
Europe.  In  Quentin  Durward  Scott  gives  a 
romantic  picture  of  the  Scottish  military  adven- 
turer, a  type  renowned  throughout  Europe  for 
a  shrewd  head,  a  strong  arm  and  a  sharp  sword. 
The  Scottish  trader  was  quite  as  well  known. 
There  were  settlements  of  Scottish  people  living 
under  their  own  laws  and  perpetuating  their 
national  customs  in  various  countries  of  Europe. 
William  Lithgow,  a  Scottish  traveler  who  visited 
Poland  in  the  seventeenth  century,  reported  that 
there  were  thirty  thousand  Scots  families  in  that 
country.  When  Sir  William  Alexander,  after- 
ward Earl  of  Sterling,  was  urging  the  coloniza- 
tion of  Nova  Scotia,  an  enterprise  that  came 
into  competition  with  the  Ulster  plantation, 
he  remarked  that  Scotland,  "being  constrained 
to  disburden  herself  (like  the  painful  bees)  did 
every  year  send  forth  swarms."  Many  through 
stress  of  necessity  had  been  compelled  to  "betake 
themselves  to  the  wars  against  the  Russians, 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  93 

Turks  or  Swedens."  Alexander  urged  that  this 
scattering  of  Scottish  ability  should  be  discon- 
tinued, saying: 

"When  I  do  consider  with  myself  what 
things  are  necessary  for  a  plantation,  I  can- 
not but  be  confident  that  my  own  country- 
men are  as  fit  for  such  a  purpose  as  any 
men  in  the  world,  having  daring  minds  that 
upon  any  probable  appearance  do  despise 
danger,  and  bodies  able  to  endure  as  much 
as  the  height  of  their  minds  can  under- 
take." 

Together  with  a  long  implanted  migratory 
tendency  operating  to  promote  Scottish  coloni- 
zation of  the  territory  opened  to  settlement  in 
Ulster,  another  cause  of  Scottish  forwardness 
was  facility  of  access.  The  North  of  Ireland 
could  be  reached  by  ferries  from  the  south- 
western extremities  of  Scotland  which  had  been 
purged  of  their  dangerous  elements  by  Lord 
Ochiltree's  expedition.  The  Scotch  settlers  had 
quick  transit  for  themselves  and  their  chattels 
while  the  English  settlers  had  to  take  the  risks 
of  a  much  longer  sea-passage  beset  with  pirates. 

At  this  period  piracy  was  a  thriving  trade,  its 
range  including  both  Atlantic  and  Mediter- 
ranean coasts.  Among  the  outrages  charged 
upon  the  pirates  was  that  they  associated  with 
the  Turks,  to  whom  they  sold  captives,  Tunis 
being  a  port  at  which  this  traffic  was  carried  on. 


94  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

In  a  report  made  to  the  English  Privy  Council, 
August  22,  1609,  it  is  mentioned  with  satisfac- 
tion that  John  Ward,  a  pirate  chief,  had  been 
captured  by  "the  galliasses  of  the  Venetians" 
with  his  ship  and  pinnace  and  their  crews, 
"whereof  thirty-six  the  next  day  were  hanged  in 
view  of  the  town  of  Zante,  the  rest  in  other 
places,  amongst  which  number  were  divers  Eng- 
lishmen.' '  The  Irish  State  Papers  contain  fre- 
quent references  to  the  depredations  of  pirates 
on  the  southern  and  western  coasts  of  Ireland. 
Chichester  says  in  his  despatches  that  it  was  their 
habit  to  move  from  the  Spanish  coasts  to  the 
Irish  coasts  during  the  fishing  season,  to  revictual 
themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  fishing  fleet. 
He  mentions  that  in  1606  the  pirates  "hath 
robbed  more  than  100  sail  and  sent  them  empty 
home." 

The  traffic  that  sprang  up  as  a  consequence  of 
the  Ulster  plantation  attracted  the  pirates  into 
the  waters  between  Ireland  and  England.  In  a 
dispatch  from  Dublin  Castle,  June  27,  1610, 
Chichester  says : 

"The  pirates  upon  this  coast  are  so  many 
and  are  become  so  bold  that  now  they  are 
come  into  this  channel,  and  have  lately 
robbed  divers  barks,  both  English  and 
Scotch,  and  have  killed  some  that  have  made 
resistance;  they  lay  for  the  Londoners' 
money  sent  for  the  work  at  Coleraine,  but 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  95 

missed  it;  they  have  bred  a  great  terror  to 
all  passengers,  and  he  thinks  will  not  spare 
the  King's  treasure  if  they  may  light 
upon  it." 

Chichester  had  not  the  means  of  taking  effec- 
tive action  against  piracy,  his  frequent  appeals 
for  sufficient  naval  force  failing  of  proper  re- 
sponse from  the  home  Government.  This  Scot- 
tish authorities  acted  with  prompt  decision  and 
energy.  An  entry  of  June  27,  1610,  on  the 
Register  of  the  Privy  Council  of  Scotland  notes 
that  an  English  pirate  had  appeared  on  the  coast 
of  Ireland  opposite  Scotland,  waylaying  boats 
bound  for  the  Irish  plantation.  Commission  was 
given  to  the  provost  and  baillies  of  Ayr  to  fit  out 
an  armed  vessel  to  pursue  the  pirates.  About 
the  same  time  pirate  ships  were  seen  even  in  the 
Firth  of  Forth.  Upon  funds  advanced  by  the 
City  of  Edinburgh  three  armed  vessels  were 
fitted  out  at  Leith.  The  pirates  had  a  depot  in 
the  Orkneys  from  which  northern  position  their 
vessels  could  make  excursions  either  to  the  east- 
ern or  western  coasts  of  the  mainland.  An  action 
was  fought  off  the  Orkneys  in  which  one  of  the 
two  pirate  vessels  was  captured  but  the  other 
escaped  by  fast  sailing.  Of  the  thirty  pirates 
taken  alive  twenty-seven  were  put  to  death. 
They  are  constantly  referred  to  in  the  State 
Papers  as  "English  pirates"  and  their  names  are 


96  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

such  as  to  justify  the  description.  A  feature  of 
the  official  record  that  casts  a  curious  light  on  the 
morals  of  the  times  is  that  the  pirates  had  "one 
whome  thay  did  call  thair  parsone,  for  saying  of 
prayeris  to  thame  twyse  a  day."  This  pirate 
chaplain  furnished  the  Government  with  much 
useful  information  and  he  was  not  brought  to 
trial.  Piracy  of  such  a  serious-minded  type  must 
have  been  a  relic  of  the  time  when  marauding 
whether  by  land  or  by  sea  ranked  as  an  honorable 
industry.  This  pious  band  perhaps  regarded 
Scotland  as  a  foreign  country  whose  waters  were 
as  fair  a  field  for  spoils  as  the  Spanish  main  in 
Elizabeth's  time. 

After  this  affair  no  notice  appears  in  the 
Scottish  records  of  any  molesting  of  the  sea- 
passage  to  Ulster,  although  mention  is  made  of 
the  presence  of  pirates  in  the  Hebrides  and  the 
Orkneys.  The  probability  is  that  the  pirates 
found  the  narrow  channel  between  Scotland  and 
Ireland  too  tight  a  place  in  which  to  venture  and 
they  kept  to  safer  and  more  profitable  cruising 
grounds  in  the  wide  seas.  Numerous  references 
continue  to  appear  in  the  Irish  State  Papers  to 
their  activity  and  audacity.  They  established  a 
depot  at  Leamcon,  a  land-locked  harbor,  on  the 
southern  coast  of  Ireland,  and  at  one  time  in  the 
summer  of  1611  they  had  there  a  fleet  of  nine  sail 
together  with  four  captured  vessels.    They  were 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  97 

engaged  in  fitting  up  one  of  the  captured  vessels 
as  an  addition  to  their  fleet,  after  which  they 
were  going  to  the  Barbary  coast  where  they  had 
a  market  for  their  goods.  They  preyed  upon 
the  commerce  of  Holland,  France  and  England 
impartially  and  defied  the  authority  of  all  those 
Powers  with  remarkable  success.  The  Dutch, 
who  were  particularly  energetic  in  their  efforts 
to  crush  the  pirates,  obtained  permission  from  the 
English  Government  to  pursue  them  into  Irish 
waters.  Three  armed  vessels  were  dispatched 
from  Holland  to  the  Irish  seas  in  1611,  but  the 
pirate  fleet  scattered  at  their  coming  to  return 
when  the  coast  was  clear.  Piratical  depredations 
on  the  southern  coast  continued  for  many  years 
thereafter,  and  the  participation  of  the  Barbary 
States  in  the  business  eventually  led  to  a  horrible 
affair.  On  June  20,  1631,  a  squadron  of  Alger- 
ine  pirates  sacked  the  town  of  Baltimore  in 
County  Cork,  carrying  off  with  their  booty 
more  than  a  hundred  citizens  of  the  place,  mostly 
English  colonists.  Ulster,  however,  remained 
untroubled  by  the  pirates  after  they  had  been 
driven  out  of  the  North  Channel  in  the  early  days 
of  the  settlement.  The  South  of  Ireland  was  not 
delivered  from  the  depredations  of  the  pirates 
until  about  1636  when  Wentworth's  energetic 
measures  made  the  region  too  dangerous  for 
them  to  visit. 


98  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

In  Appendix  B  will  be  found  a  complete  list 
of  the  Undertakers  as  provisionally  accepted  by 
the  Scottish  Privy  Council,  and  also  the  list  as 
finally  prepared  by  the  English  Privy  Council. 
Although  the  two  lists  differ  greatly,  probably 
the  class  of  immigrants  was  not  to  any  corre- 
sponding extent  affected  by  the  change.  It  has 
already  been  remarked  that  the  first  list  made  up 
in  September,  1609,  was  chiefly  composed  of  sons 
or  brothers  of  lairds  and  burgesses  in  the  Low- 
lands. There  is  no  name  of  a  Scottish  noble  in 
the  list  of  Undertakers.  Lord  Ochiltree  appears 
as  surety  for  four  of  the  principals,  but  was  not 
a  principal  himself  at  that  time.  The  list  as  re- 
vised in  England  in  1611  contains  the  names  of 
five  Scottish  noblemen,  each  receiving  an  allot- 
ment of  3,000  acres  whereas  in  the  first  list  the 
largest  allotment  was  2,000  acres.  Only  eighteen 
of  the  seventy-seven  applicants  enrolled  in  the 
first  list  appear  in  the  final  list.  In  view  of  the 
usual  tenor  of  the  King's  proceedings  in  such 
matters  favor  doubtless  played  a  part  in  those 
changes,  but  they  cannot  all  be  ascribed  to  favor. 
According  to  the  ideas  of  those  times  it  was  im- 
portant to  interest  wealthy  and  influential 
noblemen  in  the  success  of  the  plantation.  It 
is  a  point  on  which  Chichester  laid  stress  in  his 
communications.  Since  it  appears  that  Lord 
Ochiltree  refrained  from  applying  in  his  own  be- 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  99 

half  when  the  matter  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Scottish  Privy  Council  but  is  included  in  the 
list  as  made  up  in  England  it  seems  fair  to 
presume  that  influence  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
him.  And  it  would  also  seem  likely  that  the 
kinsmen  and  friends  in  the  Lowlands  for  whom 
he  had  been  willing  to  be  surety  when  the  first 
roll  was  made  up  might  retain  their  connection 
with  the  enterprise  under  cover  of  his  name.  In 
a  dispatch  of  July  29,  1611,  Chichester  mentions 
that  Lord  Ochiltree  had  arrived  "accompanied 
with  thirty-three  followers,  gent,  of  sort,  a  min- 
ister, some  tenants,  freeholders,  artificers,  unto 
whom  he  hath  passed  estates."  Chichester  notes 
that  building  and  fortifying  were  going  briskly 
forward,  that  horses  and  cows  had  been  brought 
in  and  that  ploughing  had  begun. 

Other  Scotch  noblemen  had  thrown  themselves 
with  a  will  into  the  work  of  colonization.  The 
Earl  of  Abercorn  had  brought  in  tenants  with 
ploughs  and  live  stock,  and  the  Earl  and  his 
family  were  already  in  residence  on  their  Irish 
estate.  Sir  Robert  Hepburn  was  also  resident, 
and  was  building  and  farming  energetically. 
Mills  and  houses  were  going  up  and  tools  and 
live  stock  were  being  brought  into  the  country. 
That  there  was  a  great  bustle  of  intercommuni- 
cation between  Scotland  and  Ulster  is  evidenced 
by  a  petition  to  the  Scottish  Privy  Council,  Oc- 


100  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

tober  27,  1612.  The  petitions  set  forth  that  in 
settling  on  their  lands  in  Ulster  they  are  "con- 
strained and  compellit  to  transporte  frome  this 
countrey  thereunto,  verie  frequentlie,  nomberis 
of  men  for  labouring  of  the  ground,  and  mony 
bestiall  and  cattell  for  plenisching  of  the  same," 
so  that  passage  between  Scotland  and  Ulster  "is 
now  become  a  commoun  and  ane  ordinarie 
ferrie,"  where  seamen  and  boatmen  are  making 
rates  at  their  own  pleasure  "without  ony  con- 
trolment.,,  The  public  authority  of  Scotland 
was  neither  impotent  nor  irresolute  in  such  mat- 
ters. The  Privy  Council  commissioned  the  jus- 
tices of  the  peace  along  the  west  sea-coast  to 
"reforme  the  said  abuse  in  sic  forme  and  maner 
as  they  sail  hold  fittest,  and  for  this  effect  that 
they  appoint  and  set  down  reasounable  and 
moderat  frauchtis  [rates]  to  be  tane  for  the 
transporte  of  men,  bestiall,  and  goodis  to  and 
fra  Yreland." 

No  further  mention  of  this  matter  appears  in 
the  records  but  the  severity  with  which  unlawful 
exactions  were  repressed  is  evidenced  by  the 
entry  in  1616  of  an  order  that  one  Patrick  Adair 
should  be  imprisoned  in  the  Tolbooth  of  Edin- 
burgh at  his  own  expense  during  the  pleasure  of 
the  Council  for  insolence  in  demanding  custom 
on  certain  horses  sent  to  Ireland  by  the  Earl 
of  Abercorn.     There  is  however  evidence  that 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTEft  lffl 

as  communications  became  regular  and  ample 
criminals  made  use  of  the  facilities.  Entries  of 
October,  1612,  and  November,  1614,  refer  to 
traffickers  in  stolen  goods  between  Ireland  and 
Scotland  and  orders  are  given  to  keep  a  strict 
watch  of  ports  and  ferries,  "for  apprehending  of 
suche  personis  as  in  thifteous  maner  travellis  to 
and  fra  Yreland,  transporting  the  goodis  stollin 
be  thame  furthe  of  the  ane  cuntrie  to  the  uther." 

The  energetic  scouring  of  the  Scottish  Border 
shires  contributed  some  elements  to  Ulster  plan- 
tation that  did  not  make  for  peace  and  order. 
Men  proscribed  in  the  Borders  would  take  refuge 
in  Ireland.  A  proclamation  issued  in  1618 
orders  the  wives  and  children  of  all  such  persons 
as  have  been  banished  or  have  become  voluntary 
fugitives  into  Ireland  to  join  their  husbands 
with  all  convenient  diligence,  nor  presume  to 
return  under  pain  of  imprisonment.  To  facili- 
tate better  control  over  travel  between  Ireland 
and  Scotland  it  was  restricted  to  certain  ports, 
and  passports  were  required. 

The  situation  in  the  Borders  which  were  the 
southern  tier  of  Lowland  shires  throws  light 
upon  a  saying  that  is  often  quoted  in  histories  as 
indicative  of  a  low  state  of  morality  among  the 
Ulster  settlers.  The  authority  for  it  is  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Stewart,  an  Ulster  minister.  He  re- 
marked:    "Going  to  Ireland  was  looked  upon 


WS  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

as  a  miserable  mark  of  a  deplorable  person ;  yea, 
it  was  turned  into  a  proverb,  and  one  of  the 
worst  expressions  of  disdain  that  could  be  in- 
vented was  to  tell  a  man  that  'Ireland  would  be 
his  hinder  end.'  "  As  one  follows  through  the 
state  papers  accounts  of  the  measures  taken  by 
James  to  rid  the  Borders  of  "maisterles  men  and 
vagabondis  wanting  a  lawfull  trade,  calling  and 
industrie"  and  notes  the  terrible  punishments 
inflicted,  branding,  drowning  and  hanging,  it  is 
easy  to  understand  how  the  popular  imagination 
would  be  impressed.  The  severe  attitude  of  the 
authorities  is  strikingly  displayed  by  the  meas- 
ures taken  in  August,  1612,  when  some  Scot- 
tish companies  that  had  been  in  Swedish  service 
returned  home.  It  was  ordered  that  "the  said 
soldiers  shall,  within  two  hours  after  landing, 
dissolve  themselves  and  repair  peaceably  to  their 
homes,  and  that  no  more  than  two  of  them  shall 
remain  together,  under  pain  of  death."  To 
escape  from  such  rigor  emigration  to  Ireland 
would  be  a  natural  impulse  among  the  restless 
and  wayward,  and  an  association  of  ideas  was 
established  that  became  a  text  of  warning  in  the 
mouths  ,of  sober-minded  people.  But  there  is 
abundant  evidence  that  both  in  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land the  authorities  were  active  in  precautions 
against  crime  and  disorder.  A  frontier  has  a 
natural  attraction  for  the  misfits  of  old  communi- 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  103 

ties  but  the  evidence  when  analyzed  does  not 
warrant  the  opinion  that  the  Scottish  migration 
into  Ulster  was  so  low  in  moral  tone  as  has  been 
averred  by  historians  on  the  testimony  of  early 
Ulster  divines. 

The  authorities  upon  whose  word  rests  the 
charge  of  prevailing  immorality  are  the  Rev. 
Robert  Blair,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Stewart,  and  the 
Rev.  Patrick  Adair.  Blair,  who  arrived  in  Ire- 
land in  1623,  left  an  autobiographical  fragment 
which  was  begun  in  1663  when  he  was  seventy. 
In  it  he  gave  this  account  of  the  early  settlers : 

"The  parts  of  Scotland  nearest  to  Ireland 
sent  over  abundance  of  people  and  cattle 
that  filled  the  counties  of  Ulster  that  lay 
next  to  the  sea;  and  albeit  amongst  these, 
Divine  Providence  sent  over  some  worthy 
persons  for  birth,  education  and  parts,  yet 
the  most  part  were  such  as  either  poverty, 
scandalous  lives,  or,  at  the  best,  adventurous 
seeking  of  better  accommodation,  set  for- 
ward that  way.  .  .  .  Little  care  was  had  by 
any  to  plant  religion.  As  were  the  people, 
so,  for  the  most  part,  were  the  preachers.'' 

Stewart's  account  of  early  conditions  is  con- 
tained in  a  church  history  which  was  begun  in 
1670  and  was  left  unfinished  at  his  death  in  1671. 
He  was  minister  at  Donaghdee  from  1645  to 
1671,  so  his  account  cannot  be  regarded  as  con- 
temporary testimony  as  to  original  conditions 
although  it  has  been  cited  as  such.    His  account 


104  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

has  been  supposed  to  derive  support  from  the 

fact  that  his  father  before  him  was  a  North  of 

Ireland  minister,  but  the  elder  Stewart  himself 

did  not  arrive  in  Ireland  until  1627,  and  the  son 

was  only  ten  years  old  when  the  father  died. 

Even  if  the  younger  Stewart  is  to  be  credited 

with  information  derived  from  his   father,  his 

knowledge  does  not  approach  so  close  as  Blair's 

to  the  first  settlement  but  nevertheless  he  paints 

the  situation  in  much  darker  colors.     Stewart 

says: 

"From  Scotland  came  many,  and  from 
England  not  a  few;  yet  all  of  them  gener- 
ally the  scum  of  both  nations,  who,  from 
debt,  or  breaking  and  fleeing  from  justice, 
or  seeking  shelter,  came  hither,  hoping  to  be 
without  fear  of  man's  justice  in  a  land  where 
there  was  nothing,  or  but  little  as  yet,  of  the 
fear  of  God.  Yet  God  followed  them  when 
they  fled  from  Him.  Albeit  at  first  it  must 
be  remembered,  that  as  they  cared  little  for 
any  church,  so  God  seemed  to  care  little  for 
them.  For  these  strangers  were  no  better 
entertained  than  with  the  relics  of  popery, 
served  up  in  a  ceremonial  service  of  God 
under  a  sort  of  anti-Christian  hierarchy. 
.  .  .  Thus  on  all  hands  atheism  increased, 
and  disregard  of  God,  iniquity  abounded 
with  contention,  fighting,  murder,  adultery, 
etc.,  as  among  people  who,  as  they  had  noth- 
ing within  them  to  overawe  them,  so  their 
ministers'  example  was  worse  than  nothing; 
for  'from  the  prophets  of  Israel  profaneness 
went  forth  to  the  whole  land.'  " 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  105 

Adair  settled  in  Ireland,  in  charge  of  the 
parish  of  Cairn  Castle,  Antrim,  May,  1646.  He 
died  in  1694  leaving  unfinished  A  True  Narra- 
tive of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Ireland.  His  account  of  the  first 
settlers  is  simply  a  reproduction  of  Blair's,  in  al- 
most the  same  language. 

An  examination  of  these  several  accounts 
shows  that  the  purpose  of  the  writers  was  horta- 
tory rather  than  historical.  The  motive  that  set 
them  all  writing  in  their  old  age  was  to  put  on 
record  edifying  experiences.  Literary  composi- 
tion of  this  sort  instinctively  avoids  all  colors  ex- 
cept black  and  white.  It  needs  strong  contrasts 
to  accomplish  the  desired  effect.  Hence  Dr. 
Reid,  in  his  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Ireland,  a  work  written  in  the  genuine  his- 
torical spirit,  while  he  reproduces  Stewart's  ac- 
count, gives  the  caution  that  it  is  "probably  a 
little  over-charged." 

Doubtless  to  clergymen  of  strict  opinions  there 
was  deplorable  laxity  of  morals  among  the  early 
settlers  of  the  Ulster  plantation,  but  if  one's 
views  are  formed  upon  examination  of  the  official 
records,  it  will  not  be  thought  that  the  people 
settling  in  Ulster  were  any  worse  than  people 
of  their  class  in  Scotland  or  in  England.  If 
anything,  the  comparison  is  to  the  advantage  of 
the  Ulster  settlers.     As  a  matter  of  fact  they 


106  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

showed  far  more  regard  for  religious  establish- 
ment than  is  usual  among  emigrants.  It  has 
already  been  noted  that  a  minister  accompanied 
the  party  of  settlers  brought  over  by  Lord 
Ochiltree  in  1611.  By  the  close  of  1625  seven 
ministers  are  known  to  have  settled  in  the  coun- 
try. Neal's  History  of  the  Puritans,  published 
in  1731-2,  mentions  the  Ulster  plantation  as  a 
field  in  which  Puritanism  prospered.  Referring 
to  the  work  of  colonization  carried  on  by  the 
London  companies,  Neal  said: 

"They  sent  over  considerable  numbers  of 
planters,  but  were  at  a  loss  for  ministers ;  for 
the  beneficed  clergy  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, being  at  ease  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
preferments,  would  not  engage  in  such  a 
hazardous  undertaking,  it  fell  therefore  to 
the  lot  of  the  Scots  and  English  Puritans; 
the  Scots,  by  reason  of  their  vicinity  to  the 
northern  parts  of  Ireland,  transported  nu- 
merous colonies;  they  improved  the  country 
and  brought  preaching  into  the  churches 
where  they  settled;  but  being  of  the  Presby- 
terian persuasion,  they  formed  their  churches 
after  their  own  model.  The  London  adven- 
turers prevailed  with  several  of  the  English 
Puritans  to  remove,  who,  being  persecuted 
at  home,  were  willing  to  go  anywhere  within 
the  King's  dominions  for  the  liberty  of  their 
consciences." 

This  reference  to  the  Puritan  complexion  of 
the  ecclesiastical  arrangements  made  along  with 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  107 

the  Ulster  plantation  accounts  for  the  acrimony 
with  which  pioneer  ministers,  writing  in  their  old 
age,  described  the  situation  in  which  they  began 
their  fruitful  labors.  That  situation  did  not  exist 
however  because  the  Ulster  settlers  as  a  class 
were  worse  than  the  other  people,  but  because 
exceptionally  high  standards  had  been  set  up, 
measured  by  which  morals  that  elsewhere  might 
have  passed  without  much  reprobation  were  re- 
garded as  abominable.  Such  an  epithet  as  "athe- 
ism" when  employed  by  religious  zealots  must  be 
taken  with  allowance.  It  may  mean  really  no 
more  than  an  indifference  which  however  culp- 
able from  the  ministerial  view-point  was  far  from 
implying  actual  atheism.  It  may  be  noted  that 
Stewart  couples  the  charge  of  atheism  with 
"disregard  of  God."  That  is  to  say  the  people 
were  atheists  because  they  neglected  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  church  as  construed  by  Puritan 
clergymen.  Blair  in  his  autobiography  men- 
tions incidents  that  show  that  atheism  could 
hardly  have  been  prevalent.  He  remarks  that  on 
the  day  after  he  landed  in  Ireland  he  met  some 
Scots  with  whom  by  way  of  conference  he  dis- 
coursed the  most  part  of  the  last  sermon  he  had 
preached.  He  speaks  of  finding  several  minis- 
ters in  the  field,  and  of  hours  spent  "in  godly 
conference  and  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
Alongside  of  such  fervor  the  behavior  of  the 


108  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

common  people  doubtless  seemed  cold  and  indif- 
ferent, and  Blair  describes  them  as  "drowned  in 
ignorance,  security  and  sensuality."  Yet  he  says 
the  people  were  much  affected  by  two  sermons  he 
preached  on  the  same  day,  "one  sermon  on 
heaven's  glory  and  another  on  hell's  torments." 
It  was  suggested  to  him  that  as  some  of  the 
people  that  dwelt  far  from  the  kirk  returned 
home  after  the  first  sermon,  he  should  thereafter 
preach  of  hell  in  the  morning  and  of  heaven  in 
the  afternoon.  In  fine,  his  autobiography  gives 
such  an  account  of  successful  ministry  as  to  in- 
dicate that  the  people  were  not  a  bad  sort  when 
judged  by  ordinary  standards,  and  that  upon  a 
fair  scale  of  comparison  with  new  settlements  in 
any  country  they  really  stood  high  in  their  con- 
cern for  religion  and  their  attachment  to  ecclesi- 
astical order. 

They  certainly  were  tractable,  for  the  rela- 
tions that  have  come  down  from  this  period  show 
that  the  ministers  were  able  to  establish  a  strict 
discipline.  Blair  tells  how  he  made  evil-doers 
make  public  confession  of  their  sins.  The  Rev. 
John  Livingston  who  was  called  to  Ireland  in 
1630  thus  describes  the  process  of  church  disci- 
pline in  his  time: 

"We  [i.e.  the  session]  met  every  week, 
and  such  as  fell  into  notorious  public  scan- 
dals we  desired  to  come  before  us.     Such 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  109 

as  came  were  dealt  with,  both  in  public  and 
private,  to  confess  their  scandal  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  congregation,  at  the  Saturday's 
sermon  before  the  communion,  which  was 
celebrated  twice  in  the  year.  Such  as  after 
dealing  would  not  come  before  us,  or  com- 
ing, would  not  be  convinced  to  acknowledge 
their  fault  before  the  congregation,  upon  the 
Saturday  preceding  the  communion,  their 
names,  scandals  and  impenitency  were  read 
out  before  the  congregation,  and  they  de- 
barred from  the  communion;  which  proved 
such  a  terror  that  we  found  very  few  of  that 
sort." 

This  was  not  an  isolated  case,  for  Livingston 
mentions  that  "there  were  nine  or  ten  parishes 
within  the  bounds  of  twenty  miles  or  little  more, 
wherein  there  were  godly  and  able  ministers." 
Both  Blair  and  Livingston  speak  of  the  extra- 
ordinary appetite  of  the  people  for  religious  ex- 
ercise.    Livingston  says: 

"I  have  known  them  come  several  miles 
from  their  own  houses  to  communions,  to 
the  Saturday  sermon,  and  spending  the 
whole  Saturday's  night  in  several  compan- 
ies, sometimes  a  minister  being  with  them, 
and  sometimes  themselves  alone  in  confer- 
ence and  prayer.  They  have  then  waited  on 
the  public  ordinances  the  whole  Sabbath, 
and  spent  the  Sabbath  night  in  the  same 
way,  and  yet  at  the  Monday's  sermon  were 
not  troubled  with  sleepiness;  and  so  they 
have  not  slept  till  they  went  home.  In 
those  days  it  was  no  great  difficulty  for  a 


110  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

minister  to  preach  or  pray  in  public  or  pri- 
vate, such  was  the  hunger  of  hearers." 

All  this,  in  less  than  twenty  years  after  the 
colonization  of  Ulster  began,  certainly  does  not 
exhibit  a  community  prone  to  atheism  and  im- 
morality. It  is  evident  that  ecclesiastical  con- 
trol over  the  people  was  promptly  applied  and 
was  speedily  effectual,  and  it  was  a  control  of  a 
strict  Puritan  type.  The  development  of  this 
characteristic  was  promoted  not  only  by  the  fact 
that  the  North  of  Ireland  served  as  a  refuge  for 
Puritan  ministers  harassed  by  episcopal  inter- 
ference in  Scotland  and  England,  but  also  by 
the  fact  that  at  this  time  the  established  church 
in  Ireland  had  a  strong  Puritan  tincture  and  the 
bishops  there  were  friendly  and  sympathetic  in 
their  attitude  toward  the  Presbyterians.  The 
low  state  of  the  Established  Church  at  the  time  of 
the  accession  of  James  had  been  somewhat  re- 
trieved by  the  appointment  of  good  bishops  and 
diligent  pastors,  trained  under  Puritan  influence. 
During  Elizabeth's  reign  Cambridge  University 
had  been  a  center  of  Calvinistic  theology  and 
Puritan  doctrine.  The  famous  Richard  Cart- 
wright,  sometimes  called  the  father  of  English 
Puritanism,  was  a  fellow  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge.  Dublin  University,  founded  in 
1593,  drew  upon  Cambridge  University  for  its 
staff  of  professors  and  their  influence  upon  the 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  111 

Irish  Church  was  very  marked.  The  articles  of 
religion  adopted  by  the  Church  of  Ireland  in 
1615  are  printed  in  full  in  Neal's  History  of  the 
Puritans  as  a  Puritan  document.  Blair,  Living- 
ston and  other  Presbyterian  ministers  accepted 
Episcopal  ordination  after  a  form  made  to  meet 
their  approval.    Neal  says : 

"All  the  Scots  who  were  ordained  in  Ire- 
land to  the  year  1642,  were  ordained  after 
the  same  manner;  all  of  them  enjoyed  the 
churches  and  tithes,  though  they  remained 
Presbyterian  and  used  not  the  liturgy ;  nay, 
the  bishops  consulted  them  about  affairs  of 
common  concernment  to  the  church,  and 
some  of  them  were  members  of  the  convo- 
cation in  1634." 

Looking  back  upon  the  situation  in  the  plan- 
tation period  from  the  standpoint  of  our  own 
times,  the  remarkable  thing  now  appears  to  be 
that  the  people  were  so  spiritually  minded.  In 
the  time  when  Blair  used  to  preach  his  sermons 
on  heaven's  glory  and  hell's  torments,  both  on 
the  same  day,  it  may  have  seemed  deplorable  in- 
difference that  some  of  the  people  were  satisfied 
to  hear  only  one;  but  what  surprises  one  now  is 
that  there  should  have  been  so  many  willing  to 
make  long  journeys  to  give  whole  days  to  hear- 
ing sermons.  Such  devotion  is  hardly  intelligible 
until  the  general  circumstances  of  the  times  are 
considered.     Previous  to  the  spread  of  popular 


112  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

education,  the  rise  of  journalism,  and  the  diffu- 
sion of  literature,  the  pulpit  was  in  most  places 
the  only  source  of  intellectual  stimulus  and 
mental  culture.  It  was  like  the  well  in  the  desert 
to  which  all  tracks  converge,  whereas  now  some 
sort  of  supply  is  laid  to  every  man's  house. 

The  nervous  disorders  that  are  apt  to  result 
from  immoderate  states  of  religious  introspection 
and  emotional  fervor  were  early  manifested  in 
Ulster  under  the  excitements  of  Puritan  exhorta- 
tion. In  describing  a  revival  under  Blair's 
preaching  Stewart  says:  "I  have  seen  them  my- 
self stricken  and  swoon  with  the  word — yea,  a 
dozen  in  a  day  carried  out  of  doors  as  dead,  so 
marvellous  was  the  power  of  God  smiting  their 
hearts  for  sin."  Such  scenes  before  long  pro- 
duced religious  vagaries  that  gave  trouble.  Blair 
in  his  autobiography  gives  a  long  account  of  his 
dealings  with  Glendinning,  described  as  "lecturer 
at  Carrickfergus."  Glendinning  settled  himself 
at  Oldstone,  near  the  town  of  Antrim,  where  "he 
began  to  preach  diligently,  and  having  a  great 
voice  and  vehement  delivery,  he  roused  up  the 
people  and  waked  them  with  terrors."  But 
Blair  notes  that  he  "was  neither  studied  in  learn- 
ing, nor  had  good  solid  judgment."  Indeed,  it 
would  appear  that  the  man  became  deranged, 
judging  from  the  strangeness  of  the  doctrines  he 
began  to  preach.    "He  watched  much  and  fasted 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  113 

wonderfully,  and  began  publicly  to  affirm  that 
he  or  she  after  they  had  slept  a  little  in  bed,  if 
they  return  themselves  from  one  side  to  another, 
could  not  be  an  honest  Christian."  Blair  gives 
a  long  account  of  a  struggle  he  had  with  Glendin- 
ning  to  keep  him  from  putting  his  foot  in  the 
fire  to  show  that  it  would  have  no  power  to  burn 
him.  Glendinning  professed  to  know  when  the 
Judgment  Day  was  to  come  and  he  taught  people 
to  save  themselves  by  "a  ridiculous  way  of  roar- 
ing out  some  prayer,  laying  their  faces  on  the 
earth."  Glendinning  finally  left  the  country, 
giving  out  that  he  had  a  call  to  visit  the  Seven 
Churches  of  Asia. 

The  educated  clergy  who  directed  the  interests 
of  early  Presbyterianism  of  Ulster  set  themselves 
firmly  against  religious  ecstasies  that  tended  to 
folly  and  disorder.  Blair  described  some  mani- 
festations at  Lochlearn  in  1630  as  "a  mere  de- 
lusion and  cheat  of  Satan."  It  seems  that  there 
were  persons  who  "in  the  midst  of  the  public 
worship  fell  as  mourning,  and  some  of  them 
were  afflicted  with  pangs  like  convulsions." 
Their  case  excited  sympathy  at  first  but  as  con- 
ference with  them  disclosed  no  spiritual  value  in 
such  experiences  they  were  before  long  sharply 
rebuked.  Blair  tells  how  a  woman  of  his  own 
congregation  "in  the  midst  of  the  public  worship, 
being  a  dull  and  ignorant  person,  made  a  noise 


114  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

and  stretching  of  her  body."  He  forthwith  de- 
nounced the  exhibition  as  the  work  of  the  lying 
spirit  and  charged  it  not  to  disturb  the  congre- 
gation. Blair  notes  that  after  this  rebuke  noth- 
ing more  of  the  kind  occurred,  "the  person  above 
mentioned  remaining  still  a  dull  and  stupid  sot." 
One  can  hardly  be  mistaken  in  thinking  that 
these  early  experiences  had  much  to  do  with  de- 
veloping in  Ulster  Presbyterianism  its  character- 
istic insistence  upon  the  importance  of  having  an 
educated  clergy.  We  may  therefore  descry  here 
the  initial  impulse  of  important  educational  ac- 
tivities in  the  United  States  ensuing  from  Ulster 
emigration. 

These  accounts  of  early  conditions  by  the 
pioneer  clergy  are  tantalizingly  curt  in  their  ref- 
erences to  the  industrial  situation.  Blair  re- 
marks that  when  the  plantation  began  "the  whole 
country  did  lie  waste;  the  English  possessing 
some  few  towns  and  castles,  making  use  of  small 
parcels  of  near  adjacent  lands;  the  Irishes  stay- 
ing in  woods,  bogs  and  such  fast  places."  After 
mentioning  the  influx  from  Scotland  he  ob- 
serves: "The  wolf  and  widcairn  were  great  ene- 
mies to  these  first  planters;  but  the  long  rested 
land  yielded  to  the  laborers  such  plentiful  in- 
crease that  many  followed  the  first  essayers." 
These  brief  references  are  all  that  Blair  has  to 
say  about  the  conditions  that  the  planters  had 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  115 

to  endure,  but  they  cast  a  flashlight  on  the 
situation.  A  relief  map  of  Ireland  shows  that 
elevations  above  500  feet  are  more  thickly  clus- 
tered in  Ulster  than  in  any  other  part  of  Ire- 
land except  the  southwestern  extremity.  Three 
highland  masses  whose  general  direction  follows 
rather  closely  the  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  me- 
ridians of  longitude  stretch  across  Ulster  from  the 
north  to  the  great  central  plain  of  Ireland.  Be- 
tween and  about  these  highlands  are  lake  basins 
and  river  valleys  terminating  in  short  coastal 
plains.  At  the  time  of  the  settlement  forests  and 
swamps  occupied  much  of  the  country.  Ancient 
Ireland  was  a  densely  wooded  country.  State 
papers  of  1529  represent  the  districts  in  which 
English  law  prevailed  as  being  everywhere  sur- 
rounded by  thick  forests.  From  time  to  time 
the  Government  had  to  cut  passes  and  take 
measures  for  their  maintenance.  During  the 
wars  of  Elizabeth  it  was  a  proverb  that  "the 
Irish  will  never  be  tamed  while  the  leaves  are  on 
the  trees,"  meaning  that  the  winter  was  the  only 
season  in  which  the  Irish  could  be  descried  and 
pursued  in  the  woods.  "Plashing"  is  mentioned 
as  a  great  obstacle  to  the  movement  of  the  troops, 
by  which  was  meant  the  interlacing  of  the  tree 
trunks  with  underwood  so  as  to  render  the  forest 
paths  impassable.  The  Government  sought  to 
reduce  these  woodland  areas,  with  such  success 


116  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

that  by  the  time  James  succeeded  to  the  throne 
the  central  plain  of  Ireland  was  nearly  destitute 
of  woods;  but  extensive  forests  still  remained  in 
Ulster,  in  the  counties  of  Tyrone,  Londonderry, 
Antrim  and  Down,  particularly  on  the  east  and 
west  shores  of  Lough  Neagh,  and  the  territories 
adjacent. 

Almost  everywhere  the  lands  occupied  by  the 
planters  were  in  reach  of  the  "fast  places"  in 
which  Blair  speaks  of  the  "Irishes  staying."  The 
planters  had  to  pasture  their  cattle  near  coverts 
in  which  wolves  prowled  or  marauding  natives 
lurked.  Blair  speaks  of  the  wolf  as  a  great 
enemy.  Its  ravages  were  so  great  that  so  late  as 
1652  under  Cromwell's  Government  a  bounty  of 
six  pounds  was  offered  for  the  head  of  every 
she  wolf.  Grand  jury  records  mention  payments 
for  killing  wolves  as  late  as  1710,  and  they  were 
not  wholly  extinct  until  about  1770.  The  "wid- 
cairn"  mentioned  by  Blair  is  a  corruption  of  wood 
kern.  From  the  reference  to  this  enemy  it  ap- 
pears that  although  Chichester  had  shipped  out 
of  the  country  many  of  the  fighting  men  many 
still  remained  behind,  still  trying  to  live  their 
old  lives  as  a  privileged  class  to  whom  tribute 
was  due.  The  planters  thus  lived  in  a  state 
of  siege.  Thomas  Blenerhassett,  whose  Direc- 
tion for  the  Plantation  in  Ulster  describes  con- 
ditions at  this  period  says:     "Sir  Toby  Caul- 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  117 

field's  people  are  driven  every  night  to  lay  up 
all  his  cattle,  as  it  were,  in  warde ;  and  do  he  and 
his  what  they  can,  the  woolfe  and  the  wood 
kerne  (within  caliver  shot  of  his  fort),  have 
oftentimes  a  share."  Gainsford,  another  writer 
of  this  period,  mentions  that  it  was  an  Ulster 
practice  in  1619  "to  house  their  cattle  in  the 
bawnes  of  their  castles  where  all  the  winter 
nights  they  stood  up  to  their  bellies  in  dirt." 

Such  hazards  powerfully  impelled  the  settlers 
to  build  securely.  In  the  official  survey  made  by 
Nicholas  Pynnar  in  1619  such  entries  appear  as 
the  following: 

"On  the  allotment  of  Lord  Aubigny,  held 
by  Sir  James  Hamilton,  is  built  a  strong 
castle  of  lime  and  stone,  called  Castle 
Aubigny,  with  the  King's  arms  cut  in  free 
stone  over  the  gate.  This  is  five  storeys 
high,  with  four  round  towers  for  flankers; 
the  hall  is  50  feet  long  and  28  broad;  the 
roof  is  set  up  and  ready  to  be  slated.  Ad- 
joining one  end  of  the  castle  is  a  bawn  of 
lime  and  stone,  80  feet  square,  with  two 
flankers  15  feet  high,  very  strongly  built." 


"John  Hamilton  has  built  a  bawn  of  lime 
and  stone,  80  feet  square  and  13  feet  high, 
with  round  towers  for  flankers;  he  has  also 
a  stone  house,  now  one  storey  high,  and  in- 
tended to  be  four,  being  48  feet  long  and  24 
broad;  besides  two  towers,  which  are 
vaulted,  flank  the  house.  Also  a  village  of 
eight  houses  adjoining  the  bawn,  inhabited 


118  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

by  British  tenants,   a  watermill  and  five 
houses  adjoining  it." 

Pynnar  says  that  at  that  time  there  were  in 
Ulster  "in  British  families  6,215  men,  and  upon 
occasion,  8,000  men,  of  British  birth  and  descent 
for  defence,  though  the  fourth  part  of  the  lands 
is  not  fully  inhabited."  Of  buildings  there  were 
"107  castles  with  bawns,  19  castles  without 
bawns,  42  bawns  without  castles  or  houses,  1,897 
dwelling  houses  of  stone  and  timber,  after  the 
English  manner,  in  townredes,  besides  very  many 
such  houses  in  several  which  I  saw  not." 

This  estimate  of  the  number  of  men  able  to 
bear  arms  of  course  implies  a  much  larger  popu- 
lation when  the  women  and  children  are  taken 
into  the  reckoning.  The  number  of  houses  also 
points  the  same  way.  Inasmuch  as  the  settlers 
took  their  families,  and  families  were  apt  to  be 
large  in  those  days,  the  statistics  given  by  Pyn- 
nar indicate  that  from  30,000  to  40,000  colonists 
were  then  settled  in  the  country.  Pynnar  classes 
together  English  and  Scotch  as  "British"  but 
he  gives  details  which  show  that  the  Scotch  were 
much  the  more  important  element.  He  remarks 
that  "many  English  do  not  yet  plough  nor  use 
husbandry,  being  fearful  to  stock  themselves  with 
cattle  or  servants  for  such  labors,"  and  he  goes 
on  to  say  that  "were  it  not  for  the  Scottish,  who 
plough  in  many  places,  the  rest  of  the  country 
might  starve." 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  119 

From  the  very  first  the  Scotch  took  the  lead  in 
the  settlement.  In  a  report  written  in  Novem- 
ber, 1610,  Chichester  describes  the  English  Un- 
dertakers as: 

"For  the  most  part,  plain  country  gentle- 
men, who  may  promise  much,  but  give  small 
assurance  or  hope  of  performing  what  ap- 
pertains to  a  work  of  such  moment.  If  they 
have  money,  they  keep  it  close;  for  hitherto 
they  have  disbursed  but  little,  and  if  he  may 
judge  by  the  outward  appearance,  the  least 
trouble  or  alteration  of  the  times  here  will 
scare  most  of  them  away.  .  .  .  The  Scottish 
come  with  greater  port  and  better  accom- 
panied and  attended,  but  it  may  be  with  less 
money  in  their  purse;  for  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal of  them,  upon  their  first  entrance  into 
their  precincts  were  forthwith  in  hand  with 
the  natives  to  supply  their  wants,  or  at  least 
their  expenses,  and  in  recompense  thereof 
promise  to  get  license  from  His  Majesty 
that  they  may  remain  on  their  lands  as  ten- 
ants unto  them;  which  is  so  pleasing  to  that 
people  that  they  will  strain  themselves  to  the 
uttermost  to  gratify  them,  for  they  are  con- 
tent to  become  tenants  to  any  man  rather 
than  be  removed  from  the  place  of  their 
birth  and  education,  hoping,  as  he  conceives, 
at  one  time  or  other  to  find  an  opportunity 
to  cut  their  landlord's  throats ;  for  sure  he  is 
they  hate  the  Scottish  deadly,  and  out  of 
their  malice  toward  them  they  begin  to  af- 
fect the  English  better  than  they  have 
accustomed." 


120  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Even  apart  from  the  ease  of  access  enjoyed 
by  the  Scotch,  Ulster  opportunities  were  more 
attractive  to  the  Scotch  than  to  the  English 
whose  experience  and  habits  did  not  fit  them  so 
well  to  endure  the  hardships.  The  Rev.  Andrew 
Stewart  dwells  on  this  in  his  account  of  early 
conditions,  remarking: 

"It  is  to  be  observed  that  being  a  great 
deal  more  tenderly  bred  at  home  in  Eng- 
land, and  entertained  in  better  quarters  than 
they  could  find  here  in  Ireland,  they  were 
very  unwilling  to  flock  hither,  except  to 
good  land,  such  as  they  had  before  at  home, 
or  to  good  cities  where  they  might  trade; 
both  of  which  in  these  days  were  scarce 
enough  here.  Besides  that  the  marshiness 
and  fogginess  of  this  Island  was  still  found 
unwholesome  to  English  bodies,  more  ten- 
derly bred  and  in  a  better  air;  so  that  we 
have  seen  in  our  time  multitudes  of  them 
die  of  a  flux,  called  here  the  country  disease, 
at  their  first  entry.  These  things  were  such 
discouragements  that  the  new  English  come 
but  very  slowly,  and  the  old  English  were 
become  no  better  than  the  Irish." 

By  the  "old  English"  Stewart  means  the  de- 
scendants of  English  formerly  settled  in  Ireland. 
In  every  age  they  have  shown  a  marked  tendency 
to  melt  into  the  general  mass,  making  Irish 
nationality  so  composite  in  character  that  it 
would  be  hardly  more  accurate  now  to  describe 
the  Irish  people  as  Celts  than  to  describe  the 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  121 

English  people  as  Angles  or  Saxons.  The  con- 
flicts of  which  Ireland  has  been  the  scene  have 
been  more  political  and  religious  than  racial,  and 
the  political  and  religious  differences  have  caused 
undue  emphasis  to  be  put  upon  racial  differences. 
Even  the  preservation  of  the  Celtic  language  and 
customs  in  some  regions  is  no  guarantee  of  race 
purity,  for  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  de- 
scendants of  early  English  settlers  have  adopted 
Irish  speech  and  ways. 

According  to  the  original  scheme  only  the 
class  of  servitors  whose  houses  were  to  possess  the 
character  of  military  posts  were  to  be  allowed  to 
have  Irish  tenants.  It  was  the  intention  to  re- 
move the  native  Irish  from  the  lands  assigned  to 
the  Scotch  and  English  Undertakers.  But  this 
part  of  the  scheme,  to  which  Chichester  had 
always  been  opposed,  proved  to  be  impracticable. 
In  a  report  made  in  July,  1611,  the  English  Privy 
Council  is  informed  that  "experience  tells  the 
Undertakers  that  it  will  be  almost  impossible 
for  them  to  perform  the  work  they  have  under- 
taken, if  the  natives  be  removed  according  to  the 
general  project,  for  when  they  are  gone  there 
will  be  neither  victuals  nor  carriage  within  twenty 
miles,  and  in  some  counties  more."  In  view  of 
this  situation  the  removal  had  to  be  deferred  and 
as  time  went  on  the  obstacles  increased.  The 
Irish  were  willing  to  pay  for  the  use  of  pasture 


122  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

lands  and  the  newcomers  found  that  the  readiest 
way  of  turning  their  holdings  to  account  was  to 
let  them  out.  Pynnar,  writing  in  1619,  observes 
that  "the  British,  who  are  forced  to  take  their 
lands  at  great  rates,  live  at  the  greater  rates  paid 
to  them  by  Irish  tenants  who  graze."  He  adds 
that  "if  the  Irish  pack  away  with  their  cattle  the 
British  must  either  forsake  their  dwellings  or 
endure  great  distress  on  the  sudden."  Those 
considerations  did  not  relax  their  force  and  the 
removal  of  the  natives,  although  from  time  to 
time  announced  as  settled  policy,  was  never 
actually  attempted. 

The  practice  by  the  Undertakers  of  letting  the 
lands  was  particularly  marked  in  the  large  tracts 
assigned  to  the  London  companies.  Pynnar  in 
his  report  made  in  1619  says:  "The  greatest 
number  of  Irish  dwell  upon  the  lands  granted  to 
the  City  of  London."  He  explains  this  by  point- 
ing out  that  the  lands  are  "in  the  hands  of  agents, 
who,  finding  the  Irish  more  profitable  than  the 
British,  are  unwilling  to  draw  on  the  British, 
persuading  the  companies  that  the  lands  are 
mountainous  and  unprofitable,  not  regarding  the 
future  security  of  the  whole." 

The  behavior  of  the  London  companies  be- 
came the  subject  of  an  official  inquiry,  which  in- 
cidentally produced  a  curious  and  beautiful  rec- 
ord of  the  state  of  the  plantation  in  the  County 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  123 

of  Londonderry  in  1622.  The  survey  was  made 
under  a  royal  commission  to  Sir  Thomas  Phillips 
and  Richard  Hadsor.  The  editors  of  the  Calen- 
dar of  State  Papers,  1615-1625,  say  of  the  com- 
mission's report: 

".  .  .  .  in  it  the  state  of  every  building, 
public  and  private,  is  portrayed  in  colors, 
giving  a  picture  of  the  liveliest  kind.  There 
are  views  of  Londonderry  and  Coleraine, 
with  all  the  houses  in  the  streets  and  other 
buildings,  the  ramparts,  etc.  And  on  the 
proportions  of  the  several  London  compan- 
ies are  drawn  not  only  the  several  manor 
houses,  but  those  of  the  freeholders  and 
farmers,  besides  the  cage-work  houses  in 
course  of  building,  but  yet  unfinished." 

In  their  report  the  commissioners  call  attention 
to  the  preponderance  of  natives  and  to  the  need 
of  larger  settlements  of  British  "which  would 
prevent  many  robberies  and  murders  daily  com- 
mitted by  the  Irish,  to  the  great  terror  of  the 
few  poor  British  already  settled."  Of  one  place 
the  commissioners  remark:  "This  plantation, 
albeit  it  is  the  strongest  and  most  ablest  of  men 
to  defend  themselves,  yet  have  they  sustained 
great  losses  by  the  wood  kerne  and  thieves."  Of 
another  place  the  commissioners  report:  "The 
few  British  that  inhabit  this  proportion  live  so 
scattered  that  upon  occasion  they  are  unable  to 
succor  one  another,  and  are  daily  robbed  and 


124  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

spoiled  and  driven  to  leave  the  country."  The 
military  importance  of  the  forests  at  that  period 
is  indicated  by  the  urgent  recommendation  that 
there  be  "large  passes  cut  through  the  woods  to 
answer  each  several  plantation.' ' 

In  1624  Sir  Thomas  Phillips  made  a  petition 
to  the  King  in  which  he  charged  the  London 
companies  with  "defects  and  abuses  ...  by 
which  they  have  brought  the  country  into  an  al- 
most desperate  case."  He  declared  that  "their 
towns  and  fortresses  are  rather  baits  to  ill- 
affected  persons  than  places  of  security,  besides 
the  few  British  now  planted  there  be  at  the  mercy 
of  the  Irish,  being  daily  murthered,  robbed  and 
spoiled  by  them." 

The  London  companies  eventually  incurred 
heavy  penalties  on  conviction  of  default,  but  no 
great  change  took  place  in  the  general  situation. 
The  plantation  instead  of  being  a  substitution  of 
British  for  Irish,  as  originally  intended,  assumed 
the  character  of  an  incursion  of  British  landlord- 
ism among  the  Irish.  The  mass  of  the  natives 
were  not  displaced  but  became  tenants  and  labor- 
ers upon  the  lands  they  used  to  regard  as  their 
own.  And  this  appears  to  have  been  the  case 
not  only  in  Londonderry  County  but  throughout 
Ulster.  An  official  return  made  in  1624  gives 
the  names  of  629  Irish  tenants  in  County 
Fermanagh  alone. 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  125 

The  settlers  thus  lived  surrounded  by  a  hostile 
population,  with  almost  daily  risks  from  raiders 
and  in  almost  constant  alarm  of  a  general  rising. 
In  1615  a  plot  for  the  surprise  and  burning  of 
Derry  and  Coleraine  was  formed,  but  was  frus- 
trated by  the  arrest  of  many  of  the  conspirators. 
According  to  the  cruel  practice  of  the  times 
torture  was  used  to  extort  confessions.  The 
authorities  were  too  alert  and  the  military  pre- 
cautions too  extensive  to  admit  any  opportunity 
for  a  general  rising  at  that  time.  But  there  ap- 
pears to  have  been  more  or  less  marauding  going 
on  all  the  time.  In  an  official  report  of  March 
27,  1624,  the  writer  mentions  that  many  thefts 
and  robberies  were  being  committed  by  bands 
operating  in  the  counties  of  Tyrone  and  London- 
derry. He  adds:  "I  know  well  that  this  is  a 
trifle  to  speak  of  in  this  kingdom,  where  such 
courses  have  been  frequent,  and  where  there 
are  now  many  others  in  several  counties  upon 
their  keeping,  as  we  call  it  here."  The  phrase 
"upon  their  keeping"  may  be  taken  to  denote 
such  as  adhered  to  the  old  order,  what  had 
once  been  tribal  privilege  now  taking  the  form 
of  rapine. 

A  Discourse  upon  the  Settlement  of  the 
Natives  in  Ulster  which  was  submitted  to  the 
Government  in  1628  gives  this  account  of  the 
situation  at  that  time: 


126  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

"Whosoever  doth  know  Ulster  and  will 
deal  truly  with  His  Majesty  must  make  this 
report  of  it;  that  in  the  general  appearance 
of  it,  it  is  yet  no  other  than  a  very  wilder- 
ness. For  although  in  many  of  the  propor- 
tions, I  mean  of  all  kinds,  there  is  one  small 
township,  made  by  the  Undertakers  which  is 
all,  yet,  the  proportions  being  wide  and 
large,  the  habitation  of  all  the  province  is 
scarce  visible.  For  the  Irish,  of  whom  many 
townships  might  be  formed,  do  not  dwell  to- 
gether in  any  orderly  form,  but  wander  with 
their  cattle  all  the  summer  in  the  mountains, 
and  all  the  winter  in  the  woods.  And  until 
these  Irish  are  settled,  the  English  dare  not 
live  in  those  parts,  for  there  is  no  safety 
either  for  their  goods  or  lives,  which  is  the 
main  cause,  though  other  reasons  may  be 
given,  why  they  do  not  plentifully  go  thither, 
and  cheerfully  plant  themselves  in  the 
province." 

These  perils  and  difficulties  almost  put  an  end 
to  the  settlement  of  English  in  Ulster.  Their 
home  conditions  were  not  of  such  urgency  as  to 
force  them  out  into  such  a  field.  It  was  different 
with  the  Scotch.  More  accustomed  to  emigra- 
tion than  the  English  of  that  period,  more  inured 
to  hardships,  more  capable  in  meeting  them,  they 
held  their  ground,  throve  and  spread,  giving  to 
the  Ulster  settlement  a  Scottish  character.1    Ex- 

1  After  this  chapter  had  been  written  a  valuable  history  ap- 
peared entitled  The  Ulster  Scot,  by  the  Rev.  James  Barkley 
Woodburn  of  Castlerock,  County  Derry,  Ireland.  This  work 
may  be  commended  as  a  fair  and  well-informed  history  of  Ulster. 


THE  SCOTCH  MIGRATION  TO  ULSTER  127 

act  figures  as  to  population  are  not  attainable. 
No  proper  census  of  Ireland  was  taken  until 
1821 ;  prior  to  that  time  there  are  only  estimates. 
All  authorities  agree  that  Ulster  increased 
rapidly  in  population,  both  in  the  native  stock 
and  in  the  planted  stocks.  Wentworth,  who  was 
Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland  from  1623  to  1640,  esti- 
mated that  there  were  at  least  100,000  Scots  in 
the  North.  The  historian  Carte,  whose  work  al- 
though published  in  1736  is  based  upon  such  dili- 
gent study  of  documentary  sources  that  it  still 
ranks  as  a  leading  authority,  estimates  that  in 
1641  there  were  in  Ulster  100,000  Scotch  and 
20,000  English.  When  it  is  considered  that 
Pynnar  in  1619  reported  only  6,215  men 
settled  on  the  plantation,  so  great  a  growth  in  the 
next  twenty  years  seems  almost  incredible.  It 
is  to  be  observed  however  that  the  estimates  in- 
clude not  only  the  population  of  the  six  escheated 
counties  covered  by  the  plantation  scheme,  but 

Mr.  Woodburn,  however,  makes  a  statement  in  regard  to  racial 
origins  with  which  I  am  unable  to  agree.  He  holds  that  there 
is  little  or  no  racial  distinction  between  the  Ulster  Scots  and 
the  Irish  people  in  general  and  that  "the  Ulsterman  has  prob- 
ably as  much  Celtic  blood  as  the  Southerner."  In  support  of  this 
averment  he  argues  that  the  regions  of  Scotland  from  which 
the  Ulster  plantation  drew  settlers  were  predominantly  Celtic. 
Mr.  Woodburn's  argument  was  the  subject  of  thorough  con- 
sideration by  the  Rev.  Professor  James  Heron  of  the  Assembly's 
College,  Belfast,  in  an  address  delivered  at  that  institution  on 
April  9,  1910.  This  address,  which  makes  a  thorough  and  com- 
plete analysis  of  this  intricate  subject,  will  be  found  reproduced 
in  Appendix  C  of  this  book. 


128  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

also  Antrim,  Down  and  Monaghan  in  which  set- 
tlements of  Scotch  and  English  took  place  before 
the  plantation  of  1610.  After  making  all  allow- 
ances for  possible  exaggeration,  it  is  certain  that 
within  thirty  years  from  the  beginning  of  the 
plantation  there  was  a  large  Scotch  population 
in  the  country. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Formative  Influences 

Events  of  a  kind  that  make  or  break  character 
came  hard  and  fast  in  Ulster.  They  belong  to 
Irish  history  and  they  do  not  concern  this  work 
save  as  they  operated  in  forming  Scotch-Irish 
character,  so  for  the  present  purpose  it  is  neces- 
sary only  to  take  some  note  of  their  nature  and 
dimensions. 

In  1625  Charles  I.  succeeded  James  I.  In 
1633  Thomas  Wentworth,  better  known  by  his 
later  title  of  Lord  Strafford,  was  appointed  Lord 
Deputy  of  Ireland.  The  career  of  this  man  re- 
mains a  historical  puzzle  but  of  his  ability  there 
can  be  no  question.  He  had  been  a  leader  of  the 
parliamentary  opposition  to  the  absolutist  policy 
of  Charles  and  suddenly  went  over  to  the  King's 
side  as  the  energetic  Minister  of  the  policy  against 
which  he  had  previously  contended.  The  same 
year  that  Wentworth  became  chief  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Ireland,  Laud  became  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  The  two  worked  in  hearty  accord 
in  asserting  royal  authority  and  in  enforcing 
religious    conformity.      The    Irish    Established 

129 


130  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN   AMERICA 

Church,  under  official  pressure,  discarded  the  ar- 
ticles of  religion  whose  Puritan  tone  had  facili- 
tated working  agreement  with  the  Presbyterian 
ministers  of  Ulster.  In  1634  the  Irish  Church  in 
convocation  adopted  the  English  articles,  and  it 
was  ordered  that  they  were  to  be  subscribed  by 
every  minister  and  to  be  read  by  him  publicly 
in  church  at  least  once  a  year.  A  high  commis- 
sion court  was  set  up  in  Dublin,  its  purpose  be- 
ing, as  Strafford  wrote,  "to  support  ecclesiastical 
courts  and  officers,  to  provide  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  clergy  and  for  their  residence,  either 
by  themselves  or  able  curators,  to  bring  the 
people  here  to  a  conformity  in  religion,  and  in 
the  way  of  all  these  to  raise  perhaps  a  good  reve- 
nue to  the  Crown."  Wentworth,  whose  motto 
was  "thorough,"  knew  perfectly  well  the  signifi- 
cance of  his  policy.  In  a  letter  to  Laud,  describ- 
ing the  measures  he  had  taken,  he  remarked: 
"So  as  now  I  can  say,  the  King  is  as  absolute 
here  as  any  prince  in  the  whole  world  can  be." 

To  have  a  just  appreciation  of  motives  it 
should  be  observed  that  at  that  period,  and  in- 
deed for  over  a  century  later,  the  weight  of  po- 
litical theory  was  on  the  side  of  principle  of 
absolutism  in  government.  A  good  statement  of 
opinion  will  be  found  in  Chapter  XXII  of  Sidg- 
wick's  Development  of  European  Polity.  He 
points  out  that  the  development  of  national  unity, 


FORMATIVE   INFLUENCES  131 

coherence  and  order,  the  suppression  of  the  an- 
archical resistance  of  powerful  individuals  and 
groups,  and  the  formation  of  sovereignty,  all 
took  place  upon  the  basis  of  royal  prerogative. 
Even  so  late  as  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury "an  impartial  Continental  observer  .  .  . 
would  probably  have  regarded  monarchy  of  the 
type  called  absolute  as  the  final  form  of  govern- 
ment to  which  the  long  process  of  formation  of 
orderly  country-states  had  led  up ;  and  by  which 
the  task  of  establishing  and  maintaining  a  civi- 
lized political  order  had  been,  on  the  whole,  suc- 
cessfully accomplished,  after  other  modes  of 
political  construction  had  failed  to  realize  it." 
Therefore  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  because  a  man  held  absolutist  principles 
of  government  he  was  abject  in  his  attitude  to- 
ward kings  or  insensible  to  liberty.  For  the 
King  as  an  individual  he  might  have  contempt 
while  valuing  the  office  and  its  unrestricted 
authority  as  the  essential  principle  of  public 
order.  Before  the  French  Revolution  absolutist 
principles  in  government  were  not  considered 
inconsistent  with  liberalism.  Indeed,  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe  the  two  were  traditionally 
associated.  It  was  the  tendency  of  kings  to  pro- 
mote reforms  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  while 
such  organs  of  constituted  authority  as  existed 
apart  from  royal  authority  were  shelters  of  class 


132  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH   IN   AMERICA 

privilege.  Hence  Voltaire,  the  great  apostle  of 
liberalism,  was  absolutist.  He  wrote  to  D'Alem- 
bert  in  1765 :  "Who  would  have  thought  that  the 
cause  of  kings  would  be  that  of  philosophers? 
But  it  is  evident  that  the  sages  who  refuse  to  ad- 
mit two  powers  are  the  chief  support  of  royal 
authority."  Again  he  said,  "There  ought  never 
to  be  two  powers  in  the  State."  This  mode  of 
thought  was  originally  characteristic  of  British 
Toryism,  and  persisted  in  literature  long  after 
absolutism  has  been  extinguished  as  a  working 
scheme  of  government.  In  1741  the  Scotch  phi- 
losopher Hume  published  an  essay  in  which  he 
held  that  the  tendency  to  amass  authority  in  the 
House  of  Commons  may  produce  a  tyranny  of 
factions,  and  he  concluded  that  "we  shall  at  last, 
after  many  convulsions  and  civil  wars,  find  re- 
pose in  absolute  monarchy,  which  it  would  have 
been  happier  for  us  to  have  established  peacefully 
from  the  beginning.' '  Considerations  of  this 
order  supported  the  high  Toryism  of  a  thinker 
of  such  robust  common  sense  as  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson. 

In  his  charming  novel  The  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field  Goldsmith  argues  the  case  at  length 
through  the  mouth  of  one  of  his  characters.  It 
is  in  Chapter  XIX,  entitled  "The  Description  of 
a  Person  Discontented  with  the  Present  Govern- 
ment, and  Apprehensive  of  the  Loss  of  Our 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  133 

Liberties."  The  gist  of  the  argument  is  that  by 
placing  themselves  under  a  king  the  people 
"diminish  the  number  of  tyrants  and  put  tyr- 
anny at  the  greatest  distance  from  the  greatest 
number  of  people."  He  argues  that  the  alterna- 
tive to  kingship  is  not  liberty  but  oppression: 

"What  they  may  then  expect,  may  be 
seen  by  turning  our  eyes  to  Holland,  Genoa 
or  Venice,  where  the  laws  govern  the  poor 
and  the  rich  govern  the  laws.  I  am  then  for, 
and  would  die  for,  monarchy,  sacred  mon- 
archy :  for  if  there  be  anything  sacred  among 
men,  it  must  be  the  anointed  sovereign  of  his 
people;  and  every  diminution  of  his  power, 
in  war  or  in  peace,  is  an  infringement  upon 
the  real  liberties  of  the  subject." 

When  such  views  were  still  extant  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  cannot  surprise 
us  that  they  should  subsist  along  with  sincere 
patriotism  and  genuine  love  of  liberty  in  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  issue 
was  not  intentionally  one  between  despotism  and 
liberty  but  between  conflicting  interpretations  of 
liberty.  To  Wentworth  and  Laud  the  liberty 
proper  to  good  Christians  and  good  subjects 
was  a  particular  state  of  civil  and  religious  order 
which  the  Government  prescribed  and  which  it 
was  its  business  to  apply.  Wentworth's  con- 
version from  the  King's  chief  opponent  to  his 
chief  agent  is  a  puzzling  circumstance  but  it  is 


134  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

not  unparalleled.  A  recent  biographer,  H.  D. 
Traill,  thinks  the  most  plausible  explanation  is 
that  his  period  of  opposition  was  the  famil- 
iar political  expedient  of  making  oneself  such 
a  nuisance  to  the  Government  that  one  has  to 
be  let  into  power.  At  any  rate,  Wentworth  dis- 
played such  initiative,  vigor  and  zeal  in  his  ad- 
ministration as  accords  with  sincere  conviction 
and  not  with  merely  selfish  calculation.  His 
character  was  admired  by  Bismarck  who  too  in 
his  time  acted  as  the  champion  of  prerogative 
against  parliamentary  opposition.  At  a  crisis  in 
his  career  he  declared  he  would  persevere  to  the 
end  even  though  it  brought  him  Strafford's  fate, 
but  in  his  case  it  brought  glory  and  honor;  so 
much  depends  upon  occasion  and  opportunity. 

History  has  in  a  way  vindicated  the  champions 
of  absolutism  as  well  as  the  champions  of  free- 
dom, although  it  is  the  latter  that  naturally  have 
the  popular  renown.  The  protagonists  in  the 
long  drawn  out  battle  between  prerogative  and 
popular  rule  that  was  not  ended  until  the  nine- 
teenth century  were  both  partly  in  the  right.  It 
is  historically  evident  that  the  principle  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  State,  which  confers  the  power 
of  volition  essential  to  the  discharge  of  the  func- 
tions of  modern  government,  was  worked  out  on 
the  basis  of  royal  prerogative.  What  has  hap- 
pened  is   that   the   legal   institution   has   been 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  135 

detached  from  the  individual  control  of  the  in- 
cumbent of  the  kingly  office.  The  custody  has 
passed  to  the  representatives  of  the  people,  but 
the  institution  itself  is  stronger  than  ever  before, 
and  it  has  become  the  cardinal  principle  of  popu- 
lar government.  The  great  authority  of  the  late 
Professor  F.  W.  Maitland  may  be  cited  in  sup- 
port of  this  statement.  In  his  Constitutional 
History  of  England  (1908)  he  remarks: 

"We  must  not  confuse  the  truth  that  the 
King's  personal  will  has  come  to  count  for 
less  and  less  with  the  falsehood  (for  false- 
hood it  would  be)  that  his  legal  powers  are 
diminishing.  On  the  contrary,  of  late  years 
they  have  enormously  grown.  The  prin- 
ciple being  established  that  the  King  must 
govern  by  the  advice  of  Ministers  who  are 
approved  by  the  House  of  Commons,  Par- 
liament has  entrusted  the  King  with  vast 
powers,  statutory  powers.  Many  govern- 
mental acts,  which  in  the  last  century  would 
have  required  the  passing  of  an  act  of  Par- 
liament, are  now  performed  by  exercise  of 
statutory  powers  conferred  on  the  King. 
Acts  which  give  these  powers  often  require 
that  they  shall  be  exercised  by  Order  in 
Council.  Thus  in  addition  to  his  preroga- 
tive or  common  law  powers  the  King  now 
has  statutory  powers.  All  this,  coupled 
with  the  delegation  of  other  powers  to  this 
Minister  and  that,  is  the  result  of  a  new 
government  which  began  about  1830," 


136  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Thus  things  may  now  be  done  in  the  King's 
name  that  involve  larger  claim  of  legal  author- 
ity than  would  have  been  deemed  conceivable  in 
the  time  of  the  Stuarts  or  admissible  even  by  so 
thoroughgoing  an  agent  of  prerogative  as 
Wentworth  himself.  The  difference  is  that  now 
what  is  done  in  the  King's  name  is  done  at  the 
instance  of  the  people  constitutionally  expressed, 
and  it  is  done  on  the  public  business  in  the 
people's  interest  and  for  the  general  welfare. 
And  the  same  remarks  apply  to  the  case  of  mod- 
ern republics  in  which  the  term  "the  Crown"  is 
superseded  by  the  term  "the  People"  as  the 
source  of  authority.  The  apparatus  of  sov- 
ereignty used  by  modern  democracy  may  be 
traced  to  institutions  originally  embodying  royal 
authority.  Thus  in  a  way  the  champions  of 
absolutism  have  contributed  to  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  popular  rule  by  their  incidental  ser- 
vice in  developing  the  sovereignty  of  the  State 
as  a  legal  institution.  Where  the  course  of 
events  has  depleted  sovereignty,  popular  govern- 
ment now  suffers  in  its  competency.  The  stu- 
dent of  jurisprudence  finds  instances  of  such 
defect  in  the  constitutional  history  of  the  United 
States,  particularly  in  the  government  of  the 
several  States. 

In  the  struggle  over  the  constitution  of  gov- 
ernment which  began  in  the  seventeenth  century 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  137 

the  legists  of  the  period  were  so  heavily  on  the 
side  of  prerogative  that  the  opposition  would 
have  been  fatally  weak  in  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual force  of  its  contention,  had  it  not  been 
able  to  offer  on  its  side  a  principle  of  legitimacy 
and  order.  Religion  supplied  that  principle. 
In  opposition  to  the  claims  of  royal  prerogative 
it  set  up  the  paramount  title  of  divine  sover- 
eignty. No  one  more  strongly  asserted  the  duty 
of  obedience  than  John  Calvin.  With  character- 
istically unflinching  logic  he  insists  upon  passive 
obedience  "if  we  are  inhumanly  harassed  by  a 
cruel  prince ;  if  we  are  rapaciously  plundered  by 
an  avaricious  or  luxurious  one;  if  we  are  neg- 
lected by  an  indolent  one;  or  if  we  are  perse- 
cuted on  account  of  piety,  by  an  impious  and 
sacrilegious  one."  But  he  proceeds  to  make  an 
exception  which  practically  does  away  with  his 
rule.  The  duty  of  obedience  to  magistrates  is 
subordinate  to  one's  duty  to  God.  "If  they 
command  anything  against  Him,  it  ought  not 
to  have  the  least  attention;  nor  in  this  case, 
ought  we  to  pay  any  regard  to  all  that  dignity 
attached  to  magistrates." 

Thus  religious  dissent  contributed  to  consti- 
tutional progress.  Mr.  Figgis,  who  supplied  to 
the  Cambridge  Modern  History  the  article  on 
"Political  Thought  in  the  Sixteenth  Century," 
sums  up  the  case  by  saying  that  religious  liberty 
was  the  parent  of  political  liberty: 


138  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

"Religious  liberty  arose,  not  because  the 
sects  believed  in  it,  but  out  of  their  passion- 
ate determination  not  to  be  extinguished 
either  by  political  or  religious  persecution. 
.  .  .  The  forces  in  favor  of  monarchy  were 
so  strong  that,  apart  from  a  motive  appeal- 
ing to  the  conscience,  making  it  a  duty 
(even  though  a  mistaken  one  in  any  indi- 
vidual case)  to  resist  the  Government,  there 
would  have  been  no  sufficient  force  to  with- 
stand the  tyranny  of  centralization  which 
succeeded  the  anarchy  of  feudalism." 

The  mere  assertion  of  this  principle  did  not 
necessarily  make  for  constitutional  government. 
It  was  capable  under  individualistic  interpreta- 
tions of  becoming  an  agency  of  social  dissolu- 
tion to  counteract  which  the  recourse  would  be 
to  arbitrary  power.  This  mode  of  thought  re- 
ceived powerful  expression  in  Milton's  Ready 
and  Easy  Way  to  Establish  a  Free  Common- 
wealth published  in  1659-60.  He  argued  from 
the  experience  of  ancient  republics  that  popular 
assemblies  "either  little  availed  the  people,  or 
else  brought  them  to  such  a  licentious  and  un- 
bridled democracy  as  in  fine  ruined  themselves 
with  their  own  excessive  power."  That  authority 
may  be  stable  it  should  have  a  perpetual  tenure. 
Therefore  he  proposed  that  the  people  should 
elect  their  ablest  and  wisest  men  to  sit  as  a  grand 
council  for  the  management  of  public  affairs, 
holding  office  for  life.    "Safest  therefore  to  me,  it 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  139 

seems,  and  of  less  hazard  and  interruption  to  af- 
fairs, that  none  of  the  grand  council  be  moved, 
unless  by  death  or  just  conviction  of  some  crime; 
for  what  can  be  expected  firm  or  steadfast  from 
a  floating  foundation."  The  "Long  Parliament" 
was  a  sufficiently  close  approximation  to  this 
scheme  of  government  to  expose  its  character- 
istic quality.  It  remained  in  existence  twenty 
years  and  until  its  behavior  became  so  intoler- 
able that  Cromwell  turned  what  was  left  of  it 
out  of  doors. 

In  Ulster  religion  supplied  not  only  a  prin- 
ciple of  legality  in  opposition  to  royal  absolutism 
but  also  a  principle  of  institutional  order  in 
the  Presbyterian  model  of  church  discipline. 
The  claims  originally  put  forth  in  behalf  of  that 
model  in  Scotland  and  England  were  not  such 
as  can  be  reconciled  with  liberty  of  conscience, 
but  no  such  object  was  professed,  the  only  pur- 
pose being  to  establish  what  was  regarded  as  true 
spiritual  order,  the  duty  of  government  being  to 
repress  violations  of  that  order.  The  Scottish 
National  Covenant  of  1638  described  the  au- 
thority of  the  King  as  "a  comfortable  instrument 
of  God's  mercy  granted  to  this  country  for  the 
maintenance  of  His  Kirk."  But  while  the 
Presbyterian  system  did  not  aim  at  liberty  it 
served  the  cause  of  liberty  by  supplying  a  prin- 
ciple  of   unity   and   coherence   whose   political 


140  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

strength  was  triumphantly  displayed  both  in 
Scotland  and  Ulster.  Presbyterian  influence 
banded  the  people  together  in  massive  resistance 
to  Went  worth's  policy.  Wentworth  himself  bore 
emphatic  testimony  to  the  fact  that  the  Ulster 
Scots  were  the  great  obstacle  to  his  plans  for  re- 
ducing Ireland  to  submission  and  conformity. 
He  singled  them  out  as  the  special  objects  of  his 
care.  In  1639  an  oath  of  allegiance  was  pro- 
posed by  which  they  were  compelled  to  swear 
never  to  oppose  the  King's  command  and  to  ab- 
jure all  covenants  and  oaths  contrary  to  the  tenor 
of  this  engagement.  This  imposition,  which  be- 
came famous  in  Ulster  history  as  The  Black 
Oath,  was  expressly  designed  to  reach  the  Ulster 
Scots,  this  purpose  being  set  forth  in  the  corre- 
spondence between  Wentworth  and  the  King 
with  regard  to  the  measure.  By  proclamation  of 
the  Deputy  and  Council  all  the  Scottish  resi- 
dents of  Ulster  above  the  age  of  sixteen,  women 
as  well  as  men,  were  required  to  take  this  oath. 
The  only  exception  made  was  in  favor  of  Scots 
who  professed  to  be  Roman  Catholics.  Commis- 
sioners were  appointed  to  administer  the  oath, 
and  to  assist  them  the  ministers  and  church 
wardens  were  required  to  make  a  return  of  all 
the  Scots  resident  in  their  respective  parishes. 
Then  either  the  people  named  had  to  appear  to 
take  the  oath,  kneeling  while  the  commissioners 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  141 

read  it  aloud,  or  else  their  names  were  reported 
as  recusants  liable  to  punishment.  Wentworth's 
arrangements  were  so  carefully  made  and  so 
well  backed  up  by  military  force  that  effective 
resistance  was  impossible,  but  the  attitude  of  the 
people  was  such  that  later  on  he  proposed  "to 
banish  all  the  under  Scots  in  Ulster  by  proclama- 
tion," meaning  by  "under  Scots"  those  who  did 
not  have  large  estates  to  incline  them  to  submis- 
sion to  the  policy  of  the  Government.  Nothing 
came  of  this  notion  for  soon  afterward  his  career 
was  cut  short  by  the  impeachment  that  brought 
him  to  the  scaffold.  Wentworth,  who  became 
Earl  of  Strafford  in  1640,  was  beheaded  on  May 
12,  1641.  Before  parting  with  this  remarkable 
man  it  should  be  observed  that  his  energetic  ad- 
ministration had  its  good  side.  His  measures  re- 
lieved the  coasts  of  Ireland  from  the  scourge  of 
piracy  and  it  was  he  that  introduced  the  cultiva- 
tion of  flax  which  became  and  has  remained  a 
flourishing  Ulster  industry.  In  aid  of  that  enter- 
prise he  imported  flax  seed  from  Holland  at  his 
own  expense  and  induced  expert  workmen  to 
come  from  France  and  the  Low  Countries.  All 
historians  of  this  period  agree  that  under  his  six 
years  of  strong  administration  the  country  made 
great  industrial  progress.  Reid's  History  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland  says:  "At 
no  former  period  had  the  country  enjoyed  so 


142  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

much    real    prosperity,    and    so    long    internal 
peace." 

A  tremendous  change  impended,  the  factors  of 
which  were  concealed  within  that  specious  tran- 
quility. A  measure  which  more  than  any  other 
of  Strafford's  actions  drew  down  upon  him  the 
deadly  hostility  of  the  parliamentary  party  in 
England  was  his  levy  of  an  army  in  Ire- 
land. At  the  outset  he  intended  all  the  men  to 
be  Protestants,  and  of  British  extraction  so  far 
as  possible.  But  his  views  on  that  point  had  to 
be  modified  when  King  Charles  advised  him  that 
the  army  would  be  used  "to  reduce  those  in  Scofc 
land  to  their  due  obedience."  After  that  Scots 
were  carefully  weeded  out  and  preference  was 
given  to  Irish  Catholics,  who,  he  told  the  King, 
might  do  good  service  for  they  hated  the  Scots 
and  their  religion.  The  headquarters  staff  were 
all  Protestants,  but  among  the  regimental  offi- 
cers were  men  who  afterward  became  prominent 
as  leaders  of  rebellion.  Strafford  was  perfect- 
ly well  aware  that  in  thus  giving  military  organi- 
zation to  natives  whose  religion  was  proscribed 
by  law  he  was  taking  serious  risks.  He  wrote 
to  the  King  that  their  training  "might  arm  their 
old  affections  to  do  us  more  mischief,  and  put 
new  and  dangerous  thoughts  into  them  after  they 
are  returned  home."  So  clearsighted  an  admin- 
istrator as  Strafford  would  have  taken  precau- 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  143 

tions  on  this  score,  but  after  he  had  fallen  a 
victim  to  the  rage  of  the  parliamentary  party- 
Charles  precipitately  ordered  that  the  army  be 
disbanded,  with  license  to  a  number  of  officers  to 
transport  8,000  foot  "for  the  service  of  any  prince 
or  State  in  amity  with  us."  At  least  seven  of 
these  officers  were  afterward  active  leaders  of 
rebellion.  One  colonel  by  prompt  work  took  over 
to  the  service  of  France  one  thousand  picked 
men  and  engagements  had  been  made  also  for 
shipments  to  Spain,  when  the  English  Parlia- 
ment practically  stopped  the  business  by  a  reso- 
lution against  transportation  of  soldiers  by 
merchants  from  any  part  of  the  King's  domin- 
ions. In  the  end  the  army,  most  of  which  was 
quartered  in  Ulster,  was  disbanded,  the  men  giv- 
ing up  their  arms  and  quietly  dispersing. 

The  disbanding  of  the  army  seemed  at  the  time 
to  remove  a  great  danger;  what  it  actually  did 
was  to  create  a  great  danger,  soon  revealed  by 
the  outbreak  of  a  civil  war  that  lasted  for  eleven 
years.  It  was  ushered  in  by  massacres,  the  na- 
ture and  extent  of  which  has  ever  since  remained 
a  subject  of  controversy.  In  October,  1641,  there 
was  a  sudden  rising  of  the  native  Irish  and  a 
great  slaughter  of  Protestants,  attended  by  re- 
volting atrocities.  The  seizure  of  Dublin  Castle, 
in  which  Strafford  had  accumulated  a  great  store 
of  munition  of  war,  was  part  of  the  plot,  but 


144  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

this  design  miscarried.  The  number  of  persons 
who  lost  their  lives  in  the  October  massacres  is 
a  matter  about  which  there  has  been  and  still  is 
great  controversy.  The  number  has  been  set  as 
high  as  200,000  and  as  low  as  8,000.  Gardiner, 
the  latest  historian  to  sift  the  evidence,  concludes 
that  four  or  five  thousand  were  murdered,  and 
about  twice  that  number  died  of  ill  usage. 
Woodburn,  the  latest  historian  of  Ulster,  ac- 
cepts that  computation  as  probably  correct.  An 
exact  statement  is  not  attainable  but  it  is  cer- 
tain that  thousands  of  Protestant  settlers  were 
massacred  and  that  great  atrocities  were  commit- 
ted. The  details  as  set  forth  in  the  depositions 
taken  from  survivors  are  revolting.  A  specifica- 
tion that  frequently  recurs  is  that  the  clothes 
were  stripped  from  captives.  But  this  would  ap- 
pear to  be  due  rather  to  the  fact  that  the  poorer 
natives  seized  the  opportunity  to  get  clothes  for 
themselves  than  that  it  was  intended  as  a  refine- 
ment of  cruelty.  Indeed  some  of  the  most  hor- 
rible atrocities  appear  to  have  been  committed 
by  women  and  children,  following  after  the  raid- 
ing parties.  At  Kilmore  in  Armagh  county, 
after  a  number  of  the  leading  Protestants  had 
been  murdered,  a  number  of  others  were  put  as 
prisoners  in  a  thatched  house.  A  party  headed 
by  a  woman  set  fire  to  this  house,  destroying  all 
the  inmates  except  two  women  who  crept  through 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  145 

a  hole  in  the  wall  and  feigning  death  waited  until 
the  murderers  had  gone  when  they  escaped  to 
the  mountains.  A  letter  of  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  uprising  is  preserved  in  which  he  tells  his 
correspondent  that  "as  for  the  killing  of  women 
none  of  my  soldiers  dare  do  it,  but  the  common 
people  that  are  not  under  rule  do  it  in  spite  of 
our  teeth;  but  as  for  your  people  they  killed  of 
women  and  children  above  three  score."  Iso- 
lated acts  of  charity  and  mercy  are  recorded. 
The  Rev.  John  Kerdiffe,  a  Protestant  clergy- 
man, in  relating  how  he  and  his  parishioners  were 
made  prisoners  by  the  Irish  under  Col.  Richard 
Plunket,  said  that  "Col.  Plunket  treated  us  with 
great  humanity  and  in  like  manner  did  Friar 
Malone  at  Skerry."  It  must  be  remembered 
that  the  uprising  was  carried  on  by  local  bands, 
subject  to  no  regular  discipline,  throwing  the 
country  at  once  into  a  state  of  anarchy  so  that 
every  ferocious  instinct  and  evil  passion  had  an 
opportunity  of  which  horrible  use  was  made. 
And  there  were  horrible  reprisals  as  soon  as  the 
Protestants  got  over  the  first  surprise  and  were 
able  to  make  a  stand. 

Ulster  bore  the  brunt  of  this  uprising  but  the 
English  rather  than  the  Scotch  settlers  were  the 
chief  victims  of  the  first  onslaught.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Reid,  himself  an  Ulsterman,  says  in  his 
history : 


146  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

"As  a  body,  the  Presbyterians  suffered 
less  by  the  ravages  of  the  rebellion  than  any 
other  class.  The  more  influential  of  their 
ministers,  and  the  principal  part  of  their 
gentry,  had  previously  retired  to  Scotland 
to  escape  the  tyranny  of  Strafford  and  the 
severities  of  the  bishops,  and  were  thus 
providentially  preserved.  Those  who  re- 
mained in  the  country  were  at  first  unmo- 
lested by  the  Irish,  in  conformity  with  the 
royal  commission.  This  temporary  pres- 
ervation gave  them  time  to  procure  arms, 
and  to  take  other  necessary  measures  to 
protect  themselves  against  the  storm  which 
they  saw  approaching.  When  the  rebels, 
therefore,  abandoned  their  professed  neu- 
trality, and  fell  upon  them,  as  furiously  as 
upon  the  English,  they  were  prepared  for 
the  attack.  When  they  associated  together 
in  sufficient  numbers,  they  were  generally 
enabled  to  maintain  their  ground,  and  fre- 
quently repulsed  their  assailants  with  loss." 

The  "royal  commission"  mentioned  by  Dr. 
Reid  refers  to  a  document  published  by  the  in- 
surgents as  coming  from  King  Charles  author- 
izing them  to  seize  and  disarm  the  English 
Protestants,  but  to  spare  the  Scots.  This  docu- 
ment is  generally  regarded  by  historians  as  a 
forgery.  So  far  from  being  any  advantage  to 
Charles  the  Irish  insurrection  was  a  most  un- 
toward event.  He  exerted  himself  to  bring 
about  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  so  that  he  might 
draw  upon  Ireland  for  aid  in  his  struggle  with 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  147 

the  English  Parliament.  In  1645  he  instructed 
Ormonde,  his  deputy,  "to  conclude  a  peace  with 
the  Irish,  whatever  it  cost;  so  that  my  Protest- 
ant subjects  there  may  be  secure,  and  my  regal 
authority  preserved."  The  articles  of  peace 
concluded  by  Ormonde  under  this  instruction 
contain  one  article  which  affords  remarkable 
evidence  of  persistence  of  savage  customs.  One 
of  the  engagements  exacted  of  the  King  was 
that  the  law  "prohibiting  the  ploughing  with 
horses  by  the  tail"  should  be  repealed. 

The  civil  war  opened  by  the  massacres  of 
October,  1641,  was  not  ended  until  during  the 
year  1653.  During  its  course  the  Ulster  Scots 
formed  a  distinct  interest  at  variance  with  all 
parts  and  in  danger  from  all.  Throughout  they 
had  to  encounter  the  steady  enmity  of  the 
native  Irish  who  regarded  them  as  intruders  and 
usurpers.  They  occupied  a  middle  position 
between  the  royalists  and  the  parliamentarians, 
between  whose  military  operations  they  were 
caught  as  between  upper  and  nether  millstones, 
and  if  they  were  not  ground  fine  that  was  be- 
cause they  were  unusually  hard  material  and  the 
grindstones  were  defective  in  power  and  appli- 
cation. In  Strafford's  time  they  were  on  the  par- 
liamentary side  and  thus  became  a  mark  of 
royalist  hostility.  But  when  the  Presbyterian 
leaders  were  ejected  from  the  English  House  of 


148  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Commons  the  Ulster  Scots  turned  against  the 
Rump  Parliament  and  denounced  its  members 
as  sectarians.  The  beheading  of  Charles  I. 
brought  out  an  indignant  protest  from  the  Bel- 
fast Presbytery  to  which  John  Milton,  then  be- 
ginning his  career  as  Latin  secretary  of 
Parliament,  made  a  tart  reply,  in  which  he  de- 
scribed the  Ulster  ministers  as  "blockish  Pres- 
byters" living  in  "a  barbarous  nook  of  Ireland." 
In  1649  General  George  Monk,  who  was  in 
command  of  the  parliamentary  forces  in  Ulster, 
actually  formed  a  temporary  alliance  with  the 
Irish  rebel  chief  O'Neill  and  furnished  him  with 
military  supplies  so  that  he  could  keep  the  field 
against  the  royalists  and  the  Presbyterians. 

When  Cromwell's  campaign  had  reduced  Ire- 
land to  submission  the  Ulster  Scots  were  again 
in  jeopardy  of  deportation,  this  time  not  at  the 
hands  of  the  royalists  but  from  the  agents  of 
Parliament.  As  a  part  of  the  Cromwellian  set- 
tlement it  was  proposed  that  the  Presbyterians 
should  be  cleared  out  of  Down  and  Antrim, 
whose  proximity  to  Scotland  was  thought  to 
make  the  situation  dangerous.  What  is  known 
as  the  engagement  of  1650,  an  instrument  bind- 
ing those  taking  it  to  support  a  Government 
without  King  or  House  of  Lords,  was  pressed 
upon  the  people  of  Ulster  by  military  force.  The 
Presbyterian  ministers  as  a  class  refused  to  take 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  149 

the  engagement,  and  they  were  strongly  upheld 
by  the  people.  To  break  the  resistance  a  plan 
was  formed  to  transplant  the  leading  Presby- 
terians in  the  counties  of  Down  and  Antrim  to 
Kilkenny,  Tipperary  and  the  seacoast  of  Water- 
ford,  all  districts  in  the  extreme  south  of  Ire- 
land, and  thus  remote  from  Scotland.  A  list  of 
260  persons  was  made  up  and  a  proclamation 
ordering  transplantation  was  issued  on  May  23, 
1653.  This  transplantation  was  part  of  a  gen- 
eral scheme  for  repeopling  the  parts  of  Ireland 
that  had  been  desolated  by  the  long  civil  war, 
and  consideration  was  shown  for  property 
rights.  The  persons  transplanted  were  to  be 
compensated  for  the  estates  which  they  lost,  in- 
cluding payment  for  the  crops,  and  were  to  be 
allowed  over  a  year's  remission  of  taxes  on  lands 
occupied  by  them  in  the  districts  where  they 
should  be  settled.  It  was  expressly  provided 
that: 

"The  said  persons  shall  and  may  enjoy 
the  freedom  of  their  religion,  and  choose 
their  own  ministers:  provided  they  shall  be 
such  as  shall  be  peaceable  minded  men  to- 
ward the  authority  they  live  under,  and 
not  scandalous:  and  such  ministers  shall  be 
allowed  a  competence  for  their  subsistence, 
suitable  with  others  in  their  condition." 

This  scheme  got  so  far  forward  that  some 
of  the  leading  men  among  those  proclaimed  for 


150  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

deportation  visited  the  south  of  Ireland  to  ex- 
amine the  allotted  lands,  and  other  steps  were 
taken  by  the  people  to  make  ready  for  the  trans- 
plantation. The  Scots  of  Antrim  and  Down 
who  had  successfully  held  out  against  the  arbi- 
trary power  of  the  King  were  on  the  point  of  suc- 
cumbing to  the  arbitrary  power  of  Parliament, 
when  absolutism  intervened  in  the  person  of 
Oliver  Cromwell  to  end  factious  tyranny.  In 
April,  1653,  Cromwell  turned  the  Rump  Parlia- 
ment out  of  doors  and  that  event  made  an  end 
of  the  transplantation  scheme.  The  Irish  Gov- 
ernment continued  to  be  hostile  to  the  Ulster 
Scots.  An  entry  of  February  14,  1656,  on  the 
minutes  of  the  Council  of  State  sets  forth  a 
scheme  of  driving  out  of  Ulster  and  County 
Louth  "all  such  of  the  Scottish  nation"  as  bore 
arms  against  the  Commonwealth  in  England, 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  together  with  all  who  had 
arrived  in  Ulster  or  County  Louth  subsequent 
to  June  24,  1650.  It  was  further  proposed  that 
"others  of  the  Scottish  nation  desiring  to  come 
into  Ireland"  should  be  prohibited  from  settling 
in  Ulster  or  County  Louth.  This  scheme  of  re- 
pressing the  'Scottish  occupation  of  Ulster  did 
not  go  into  effect.  It  was  Cromwell's  policy  to 
maintain  public  order  without  denominational 
preference.  The  Presbyterian  ministers  of 
Ulster  were  no  longer  vexed  by  oaths  of  fidelity 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  151 

or  political  engagements,  and  officiated  without 
restraint. 

The  Cromwellian  epoch  marks  the  end  of  the 
pioneer  period  of  the  Scottish  settlement  of  Ul- 
ster. It  had  survived  persecution,  massacre  and 
war.  It  emerged  from  the  years  of  trial  scarred 
but  vigorous,  straitened  in  circumstances  but  un- 
daunted in  temper.  Its  vitality  was  promptly 
exhibited  in  the  rapid  growth  of  its  character- 
istic institution,  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the 
seven  years  of  mild  political  climate  that  now 
ensued.    Reid  says : 

"It  was  during  this  period  that  Presby- 
terianism  struck  its  roots  so  deeply  and  ex- 
tremely throughout  the  province,  as  to 
enable  it  to  endure  in  safety  the  subsequent 
storms  of  persecution,  and  to  stand  erect 
and  flourishing,  while  all  the  other  contem- 
porary scions  of  dissent  were  broken  down 
and  prostrated  in  the  dust.  In  the  year 
1653,  the  church  possessed  scarcely  more 
than  the  half  dozen  of  ministers  who  had 
ventured  to  remain  in  the  country;  now, 
however  [that  is  in  1660],  she  was  served  by 
not  less  than  seventy  ministers  regularly  and 
permanently  settled,  and  having  under  their 
charge  nearly  eighty  parishes  or  congrega- 
tions, comprising  a  population  of  probably 
not  far  from  one  hundred  thousand  souls." 

This  period  may  be  taken  as  that  in  which  the 
Scotch-Irish  type  of  character  was  definitely 
fixed.     The  Cromwellian  settlement  marks  the 


152  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

end  of  the  old  era  and  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era,  with  its  own  social  and  economic  base  dis- 
tinct from  the  foundations  previously  existing. 
Old  Ireland  had  been  a  pastoral  country  and  a 
meat  diet  predominated.  At  the  close  of  the  civil 
war  meat  had  to  be  imported.  During  this 
period  the  potato  rose  to  the  prominence  in  Ire- 
land that  it  has  since  preserved  as  a  staple  food- 
stuff. Not  long  after  the  civil  war,  Sir  William 
Petty,  a  statistician  of  the  period,  found  that 
the  people  were  living  on  potatoes,  their  practice 
being  to  dig  out  the  tubers  just  as  they  were 
wanted.  That  is  to  say,  potatoes  were  a  con- 
cealed crop  to  which  the  people  could  resort, 
although  grain  might  be  easily  cut  or  burned  by 
enemies  and  cattle  still  more  easily  driven  off. 
The  potato  crop  seems  to  have  been  the  mainstay 
of  the  people  against  the  famine  that  followed 
the  civil  war  and,  accompanied  by  an  outbreak 
of  plague,  increased  the  desolation  caused  by 
war.  According  to  Petty,  out  of  a  population 
of  1,446,000,  616,000  had  in  eleven  years  per- 
ished by  the  sword,  by  famine  or  by  plague.  Ac- 
cording to  this  estimate  504,000  of  th^se  who 
perished  were  Irish,  and  112,000  were  of  Eng- 
lish extraction.  According  to  some  calculations 
the  number  of  victims  was  even  greater,  but 
Petty's  estimates  are  generally  regarded  as  the 
most  trustworthy.     Moreover,   there  were  ex- 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  153 

tensive  deportations  of  native  Irish  to  the  West 
Indies  and  great  numbers  went  into  European 
exile.  It  is  estimated  that  from  30,000  to  40,000 
men  left  the  country  to  enlist  in  foreign  service. 
The  details  of  this  tremendous  social  revolution 
do  not  come  within  the  province  of  this  work. 
Probably  the  most  dispassionate  and  trustworthy 
account  is  that  given  by  Lecky  in  the  sixth  vol- 
ume of  his  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. But  from  what  has  been  stated  it  will 
readily  be  inferred  that  the  tribal  organization  of 
society  that  had  heretofore  shown  such  tenacious 
vitality  was  destroyed  root  and  branch.  Accord- 
ing to  Petty  about  two-thirds  of  the  good  land 
had  been  possessed  by  Catholics  before  1641;  in 
1660,  more  than  two-thirds  had  passed  into  the 
possession  of  the  Protestants.  The  mass  of  the 
people  had  been  converted  from  clansmen  into 
a  tenant  peasantry. 

The  Ulster  breed  was  formed  during  these 
terrible  vicissitudes  of  Irish  history.  It  had  still 
to  pass  through  severe  trials,  but  the  permanence 
of  the  type  was  now  secure.  An  amusing  in- 
stance of  the  thoroughness  with  which  Ulster  had 
been  Scotticized  is  supplied  by  a  document  in  the 
Irish  State  Papers  for  1660,  entitled  "A  Short 
Memorandum  What  is  to  be  Looked  unto  in  the 
North  of  Ireland."  The  writer  says  that  "There 
are  40,000  Irish  and  80,000  Scots  in  Ulster  ready 


154  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

to  bear  arms,  and  not  above  5,000  English  in  the 
whole  province  besides  the  army."  It  is  sug- 
gested that  the  Scotch  should  be  made  to  wear 
hats  instead  of  bonnets,  which  the  writer  calcu- 
lates would  remove  from  Scotland  to  Ireland  a 
trade  of  about  £10,000  a  year.  Moreover,  the 
change  would  help  the  English  "who  in  all  fairs 
and  markets  see  a  hundred  bonnets  worn  for  one 
hat,  which  is  a  great  prejudice  and  doth  wholly 
dishearten  the  English  there  and  those  who 
would  come  out  of  England." 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ulster  was  the 
first  to  suffer  from  the  proceedings  against  non- 
conformity after  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  to 
the  throne.  In  1661  sixty-one  Presbyterian 
ministers  of  Ulster  were  ejected  from  their  ben- 
efices, and  it  was  not  until  the  following  year 
that  the  non-conforming  ministers  of  England 
and  Scotland  were  ejected.  But  the  Ulster 
Presbyterians  were  not  called  upon  to  endure 
such  severe  persecution  as  befell  non-conformists 
in  England  and  Scotland.  As  a  general  thing 
the  ministers  were  able  to  keep  on  officiating  al- 
though shut  out  of  parish  endowments.  Or- 
monde, then  head  of  the  Irish  Administration, 
was  disposed  to  be  indulgent.  Reid  remarks: 
"On  the  whole,  the  general  mildness  of  his  ad- 
ministration, which  continued  during  seven 
years,  presented  a  remarkable  contrast  to  the 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  155 

unprecedented  severity  with  which  the  non-con- 
formists and  Presbyterians  were  treated  at  this 
period  both  in  England  and  in  Scotland." 

The  most  famous  chapter  of  Ulster  history 
was  that  which  opened  with  the  English  revolu- 
tion of  1688  and  the  Catholic  rising  in  Ireland  in 
support  of  James  II.  The  Ulster  Presbyterians 
were  prompt  to  declare  their  allegiance  to  Wil- 
liam and  Mary,  and  the  Presbyterian  ministers 
took  the  lead  in  organizing  the  people  for  de- 
fense against  the  adherents  of  James.  Ireland, 
outside  of  Ulster,  was  in  the  hands  of  Tyrcon- 
nel,  the  deputy  of  James,  and  Tyrconnel  moved 
promptly  to  reduce  Ulster  to  submission.  But 
the  invaders  were  decisively  repelled  at  Ennis- 
killen  in  the  west  of  Ulster  and  at  Londonderry 
in  the  north.  Londonderry  successfully  resisted 
attack  for  105  days.  The  siege  supplied  a  theme 
admirably  suited  to  Macaulay's  powers  as  a 
literary  artist  and  the  account  he  has  given  in  his 
History  of  England  is  a  masterpiece  of  scenic 
writing. 

The  war  ended  in  1691  with  the  complete  over- 
throw of  the  Jacobite  interest  and  the  entire  sub- 
mission of  Ireland  to  William  and  Mary.  Fresh 
confiscations  of  land  followed  together  with  the 
exile  of  many  thousands  of  native  Irish.  The 
famous  Irish  brigade  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France 
dates  from  this  period,  and  it  was  kept  up  by  a 


156  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

stream  of  recruits  from  Ireland.  With  the 
opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  Protestant 
ascendance  was  securely  established  in  Ireland, 
and  yet  it  was  during  the  period  now  begun  that 
the  causes  that  promoted  Ulster  emigration  be- 
came powerful  and  influential.  These  will  be 
dealt  with  in  the  next  chapter,  but  before  leav- 
ing the  formative  period  of  Ulster  it  should  be 
observed  that  its  history  is  not  seen  in  its  proper 
setting  unless  it  is  viewed  as  an  episode  in  the 
wars  of  religion.  The  Scotch  settlement  of  Ul- 
ster began  before  the  Thirty  Years  War  in 
Germany  (1618-1648).  Dreadful  as  were  the 
sufferings  of  Ireland,  they  were  on  a  smaller 
scale  than  the  misery  and  depopulation  of  Ger- 
many ;  and  Germany  was  far  more  advanced  than 
Ireland  in  civilization  when  the  war  began.  The 
Peace  of  Westphalia  was  a  political  reorganiza- 
tion from  which  the  Europe  of  today  takes  its 
start,  and  prior  events  now  possess  only  an  anti- 
quarian interest.  But  Ulster  history  is  un- 
broken in  its  continuity  and  it  has  transmitted 
to  our  own  times  feelings,  interests,  preposses- 
sions and  antipathies  derived  from  the  sixteenth 
century.  This  has  tended  to  obscure  apprecia- 
tion of  the  work  accomplished  in  the  Scotch  set- 
tlement of  Ulster.  It  is  still  too  much  involved 
in  political  controversy  to  obtain  fair  treatment, 
consideration  of  the  theme  being  marred  by  pre- 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  157 

judice  for  or  against  the  actors  in  events.  The 
ardent  partisanship  that  is  apt  to  characterize 
treatises  upon  Irish  history  is  in  marked  contrast 
with  the  scientific  detachment  that  marks  his- 
torical works  dealing  with  the  contemporaneous 
periods  of  European  history. 

An  incident  of  this  continuity  of  Ulster  his- 
tory is  the  constancy  of  the  Ulster  type.  Scotch- 
Irish  character  has  such  depth  of  root  and  the 
growth  has  been  so  durable  that  its  fibre  is  sin- 
gularly hard  and  strong  and  it  retains  this  nature 
wherever  it  is  planted.  The  specific  qualities  of 
the  breed  cannot  be  accounted  for  unless  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Presbyterian  discipline  is  taken 
into  consideration.  Influence  of  this  order  has 
become  so  lax  in  our  own  times  that  no  idea  of 
its  original  stringency  can  be  obtained  unless  the 
nature  of  church  government  during  the  form- 
ative period  is  considered. 

The  essential  principle  of  government  is  the 
subordination  of  the  individual  to  the  com- 
munity. That  principle  was  not  abandoned  by 
the  Presbyterian  reformers  in  their  revolt  against 
the  Established  Church.  They  did  not  conceive 
of  liberty  as  the  absence  of  restraint  but  as  a 
state  of  order  repressing  brute  propensity  and 
developing  the  moral  sanctions  that  distinguish 
human  life  from  animal  existence.  That  state 
of  order  the  Church  should  institute  and  the  State 


158  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN    AMERICA 

should  protect.  This  principle  they  applied  by 
a  discipline  which  enfolded  individual  life  and 
subjected  it  to  guidance  and  control.  In  describ- 
ing social  conditions  in  Ulster  while  the  Planta- 
tion was  in  the  making,  it  has  been  mentioned 
that  public  penitence  was  exacted  of  evil  doers. 
The  affairs  of  each  congregation  were  presided 
over  by  the  session  composed  of  the  minister  and 
the  elders  and  deacons  representing  the  congre- 
gation. This  body  took  jurisdiction  of  the  morals 
of  the  members  of  the  congregation,  and  in- 
flicted penalties  for  misconduct.  The  rules  of 
the  Session  of  Templepatrick  adopted  in  1646 
provided : 

"That  all  complaints  come  into  the  Ses- 
sion by  way  of  bill:  the  complaintive  is  to 
put  one  shilling  with  his  bill,  and  if  he  proves 
not  his  point,  his  shilling  forfeits  to  the  ses- 
sion book.  This  is  done  to  prevent  ground- 
less scandal. 

"That  all  beer  sellers  that  sell  best  beer, 
especially  in  the  night  time,  till  people  be 
drunk,  shall  be  censured. 

"That  if  parents  let  their  children  vague 
or  play  on  the  Lord's  Day,  they  shall  be  cen- 
sured as  profaners  of  the  Sabbath. 

"All  persons  standing  in  the  public  place 
of  repentance,  shall  pay  the  church  officer 
one  groat. 

"That  no  children  be  baptized  till  the  par- 
ents who  present  them  come  to  some  of  the 
elders  and  get  their  children's  names  regis- 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  159 

tered,  that  the  elders  may  testify  of  them  to 
the  minister." 

The  character  of  the  penalties  imposed  in  the 
exercise  of  this  jurisdiction  will  appear  from  the 
following  record: 

"That  John  Cowan  shall  stand  opposite 
the  pulpit,  and  confess  his  sin,  in  the  face  of 
the  public,  of  beating  his  wife  on  the  Lord's 
Day." 

The  rule  respecting  baptism  looks  to  securing 
the  publicity  of  that  rite.  The  early  Presby- 
terian ministers  strongly  condemned  the  admin- 
istering of  baptism  or  marriage  in  private.  An 
overture  considered  by  the  Ulster  synod  at  its 
meeting  in  Belfast,  June  17,  1712,  sets  forth  that 
"the  ancient  and  laudable  custom  of  publishing 
Marriage-Banns  three  several  days  of  publick 
worship,  whereof  two  at  least  shall  be  Lord's 
days,  ought  to  be  carefully  observed."  Any 
minister  marrying  persons  without  the  consent  of 
their  parents  or  guardians  was  to  be  suspended 
from  office  for  six  months  and  "afterward  to 
make  a  full  and  ingenuous  confession  of  his  sin, 
and  express  unfeigned  repentance  for  the  same 
before  his  Presbytery." 

The  ministers  themselves  were  subject  to  strict 
supervision,  for  which  purpose  there  was  a  pro- 
cess known  as  "privy  censures"  following  a  cus- 
tom   that    formed    part    of    the    Presbyterian 


160  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

discipline  in  Scotland  and  France.    The  form  of 
procedure  is  thus  described: 

"In  every  Presbytery,  at  least  twice  a 
year,  on  days  for  prayer,  as  should  be  dune 
in  sessions  likeways,  there  ought  to  be  privy 
censures,  whereby  each  minister  is  removed 
by  course,  and  then  enquiry  is  made  at  the 
pastors  and  elders,  if  there  be  any  known 
scandal,  fault,  or  negligence  in  him,  that  it 
may  be  in  a  brotherly  manner  censured; 
after  the  ministers,  the  Presbytery  clerk  is 
to  pass  these  censures  likeways." 

Reid,  writing  in  1837,  remarks  that  these  cen- 
sures "were  laid  aside  at  the  general  relaxation 
of  discipline  in  the  last  century  but  they  ought 
to  be  revived."  In  the  early  days  the  authority 
claimed  by  the  church  was  freely  and  vigorously 
exercised,  and  its  discipline  was  a  school  of 
morals  for  the  people  that  made  a  deep  and  per- 
manent impress  upon  the  character  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish — a  term,  which  by  the  way,  they  were  slow 
to  accept.  They  used  to  describe  themselves  as 
of  "the  Scottish  nation  in  the  North  of  Ireland," 
and  they  resented  the  adjunct  appellation 
"Irish"  as  an  abatement  of  their  proper  nation- 
ality. But  common  usage  gradually  overcame 
the  early  antipathy. 

From  this  training  school  came  the  stream  of 
American  immigration  that  has  been  so  distinct- 
ive an  ingredient  of  American  society  and  so 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  161 

potent  in  its  influence  upon  American  history. 
The  diffusion  of  the  Scotch-Irish  breed  in  the 
United  States  will  occupy  the  remainder  of  this 
work.  But  before  leaving  Ulster,  completeness 
of  treatment  requires  the  statement  that  in  Ul- 
ster it  is  not  only  the  Presbyterian  Church  that 
affords  a  signal  instance  of  the  value  of  institu- 
tional order  in  perpetuating  national  life.  The 
case  of  the  native  Irish  is  even  more  significant. 
Nothing  more  strongly  attests  the  institutional 
efficiency  of  the  Catholic  Counter-Reformation 
than  the  way  in  which  the  wasted  and  impover- 
ished native  Irish  were  sustained  and  recuperated 
by  their  church.  The  work  was  carried  on  under 
a  heavy  ban  of  law  backed  up  by  extremely  severe 
penalties,  but  there  seems  to  have  been  no  lack 
of  missionaries  willing  to  meet  all  hazards.  In 
1747  the  Primate  of  the  Established  Church  of 
Ireland  estimated  that  there  were  more  than 
3,000  Roman  Catholic  priests  in  the  country 
while  the  Established  Church  had  incumbents  and 
curates  to  the  number  only  of  about  800.  At  the 
present  time  Ulster  itself  is  more  Catholic  than 
Presbyterian,  the  Roman  Catholics  numbering 
44  per  cent.,  the  Presbyterians  27  and  the  Episco- 
palians 23.  In  Ireland  as  a  whole  these  three 
bodies  have  respectively  74,  10  and  13  per  cent, 
of  the  population.  While  Catholic  discipline 
must  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  main  factor  in 


162  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

producing  this  result,  yet  a  powerful  accessory 
has  been  the  drain  of  Protestantism  from  the 
country  through  the  effect  of  the  legislation  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  of  this  drain  the  most 
important  part  was  the  Ulster  emigration  now  to 
be  considered. 


CHRONOLOGY 

The  period  covered  by  this  chapter  was  marked  by  such 
sharp  vicissitudes  of  government  that  the  following  chron- 
ology may  be  of  service  in  enabling  readers  to  keep  track 
of  events: 

1625     Accession  of  Charles  I. 
1633     Wentworth  is  appointed  Lord  Deputy. 
1636     Introduction  of  linen  manufacture. 

1640  Wentworth  created  Earl  of  Strafford. 
The  Long  Parliament  opens. 
Impeachment  of  Strafford. 

1641  Execution  of  Strafford. 
Rising  and  massacres  in  Ulster. 

1642  Civil  War  begins  in  England. 
Parliamentarians,  Royalists  and  Catholic  Confeder- 
ates, each  struggling  for  ascendancy  in  Ireland. 

1644  Ormonde,  Lord  Lieutenant. 

1645  Battle  of  Naseby  in  England. 

1646  Charles  surrenders  to  the  Scots. 

1647  Presbyterianism  established  in  England. 
The  King  seized  at  Holmby. 

1648  Scottish  army  invades  England  and  is  defeated  at 
Preston  and  Wigan. 

Col.   Pride  expels   the  Presbyterian  majority   from 
the  House  of  Commons. 

1649  Execution  of  King  Charles. 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCES  163 

The  Commonwealth  proclaimed. 
Cromwell  arrives  in  Ireland. 
1650     Cromwell  returns  to  England. 

1652  Act  for  the  settlement  of  Ireland. 

1653  Cromwell  expels  the  Rump  Parliament  and  estab- 
lishes the  Protectorate. 

1654  The  first  Protectorate  Parliament.     Thirty  members 
sit  representing  Ireland. 

The  Cromwellian  settlement  of  Ireland. 
1656     Henry  Cromwell,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 

1658  Death  of  Cromwell. 

1659  Monk  marches  from  Scotland. 

1660  He  declares  for  a  "free  Parliament." 

The  Restoration.     Charles  II.  seated  on  the  throne 
of  England. 

1662  Act  of  Uniformity. 

1663  Ireland  excluded  from  the  Navigation  Act. 

1664  The  Conventicle  Act. 

1666     Prohibition  of  export  to  England  of  Irish  cattle  and 

provisions. 
1685     Accession  of  James  II. 

1688  William  lands  at  Torbay. 
Flight  of  James. 

Closing  of  the  gates  of  Derry  and  Enniskillen. 

1689  Siege  of  Derry  and  Enniskillen. 

1690  Battle  of  Boyne. 

1691  William  III.  seated  on  the  throne. 
1696     Navigation  Act  unfavorable  to  Ireland. 
1699     English  Act  prohibiting  export  of  Irish  wool. 

Irish  Parliament  lays  prohibitive  export  duties   on 

wool. 
1702     Accession  of  Anne. 
1704     Penal   Act    against    Roman    Catholics,    with    a   test 

clause  excluding  Presbyterians  from  public  office. 
1711     Persecution  of  the  Presbyterians. 
1714     Accession  of  George  I. 


164  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

1725  Potato  famine. 

1727  Accession  of  George   II. 

1740-1741      Famine  years  in  Ireland. 

1760  Accession  of  George  III. 

1761  Agrarian  disturbances  in  the  North  of  Ireland. 
1765  Passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  for  American  Colonies. 
1771  Decline  of  linen  manufacture. 

Extensive  emigration  to  America  from  Ulster. 
1776     American  Declaration  of  Independence. 


CHAPTER  V 

Emigration  to  America 

The  beginnings  of  the  Ulster  Plantation  co- 
incided with  the  beginnings  of  the  American 
plantation,  so  that  migration  across  the  Atlantic 
was  from  the  first  a  known  recourse  if  condi- 
tions in  Ulster  became  too  hard.  When  the 
Presbyterian  ministers  in  Ulster  began  to  suffer 
from  Strafford's  vigorous  measures  against  non- 
conformity a  start  was  made  that  but  for  a  mis- 
chance might  have  set  in  motion  at  that  early 
period  the  stream  of  Scotch-Irish  emigration  to 
America.  In  1635  work  was  begun  on  the  build- 
ing of  a  ship  of  115  tons  burden  at  Groomsport, 
on  Belfast  lough.  The  ship  was  called  the 
Eagle  Wing  in  allusion  to  the  text,  Exodus 
XIX.,  4:  "I  bare  you  on  eagles'  wings,  and 
brought  you  unto  myself."  A  number  of  Pres- 
byterian ministers,  among  them  Livingston  and 
Blair,  were  interested  in  this  enterprise.  On 
September  9,  1636,  a  company  of  140  persons 
set  sail  for  New  England,  the  number  being  in- 
creased on  the  voyage  by  the  birth  of  a  child  who 
was  named  Seaborn.     After  some  hindrance  at 

165 


166  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  start,  the  ship  had  fair  weather  until  more 
than  half  the  distance  had  been  traversed  when 
severe  storms  were  encountered  and  the  ship  be- 
came leaky,  so  that  it  was  decided  to  put  back 
to  Ireland. 

In  reading  the  account  of  this  voyage  as  given 
in  the  Life  of  Robert  Blair  by  his  son-in-law 
one  gets  the  impression  that  signs  and  omens  had 
more  to  do  with  the  failure  than  the  weather. 
The  account  says  that  when  the  storm  struck  the 
vessel  they  were  "nearer  the  bank  of  Newfound- 
land than  any  part  of  Europe."  The  decision  to 
return  was  reached  after  "Mr.  Livingston  pro- 
poned an  overture,"  which  was  that  if  in  twenty 
hours  the  Lord  "were  pleased  to  calm  the  storm 
and  send  a  fair  wind,  they  might  take  it  for  an 
approbation  of  their  advancing,  otherwise  they 
should  return."  But  the  storm  grew  worse,  and 
the  matter  was  then  put  to  Mr.  Blair  to  decide, 
whereupon  he  did  "fall  into  a  fit  of  fainting  or  a 
kind  of  swarf  [Scot  for  swoon],  but  shortly  re- 
covering, he  was  determined  to  be  of  their 
mind."  They  made  their  way  without  further 
mishap,  arriving  on  November  3  in  the  harbor 
whence  they  had  started.  Mr.  Blair  took  the 
affair  as  a  sign  against  emigration  to  America, 
"seeing  the  Lord,  by  such  speaking  providences 
and  dispensations,  had  made  it  evident  to  them 
that  it  was  not  His  will  they  should  glorify  Him 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  167 

in  America,  He  having  work  for  them  at  home." 
What  troubled  them  most  about  the  affair  was 
that  "they  were  like  to  be  signs  and  wonders, 
and  a  very  mockery  to  the  wicked,  who  did  laugh 
and  flout  at  their  enterprise." 

There  is  remarkably  little  of  organized  exo- 
dus on  religious  grounds  from  Ulster.  There 
were  times  when  it  seemed  that  one  was  about  to 
take  place,  but  before  it  actually  started  con- 
ditions were  relieved  sufficiently  to  cause  action 
to  be  deferred.  Instead  of  seeking  refuge  in  far 
places  the  habitual  inclination  of  the  Presbyter- 
ians of  Ulster  was  to  stand  their  ground  and 
abide  results  in  common  with  the  Presbyterians 
of  Scotland.  The  Ulster  settlers  regarded  them- 
selves as  being  Scotch  Presbyterians  just  as  much 
as  though  resident  in  Scotland.  The  short  sea- 
ferry  between  the  two  countries  made  intercourse 
easy  and  there  was  close  ecclesiastical  fellowship. 
Scotland  was  a  regular  source  of  ministerial  sup- 
ply to  Ulster  and  Presbyterian  ministers  har- 
assed in  Ulster  could  count  upon  welcome  and 
favor  in  Scotland.  Among  the  Independent 
sects  ecclesiastical  influence  could  readily  tend  to 
emigration  by  groups  and  companies,  but  among 
the  Ulster  Presbyterians  it  tended  to  knit  the 
community  together  and  to  hold  them  to  their 
place. 

Ulster  emigration  upon  any  important  scale  is 


168  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

to  be  attributed  to  economic  and  not  to  religious 
causes.  While  the  conditions  were  taking  form 
that  eventually  produced  a  great  migration  of 
Ulster  Scots,  facilities  of  transportation  were 
developed  that  familiarized  the  people  with  the 
possibilities  of  emigration  and  acquainted  them 
with  the  means.  After  the  first  difficulties  of 
planting  colonies  in  America  had  been  overcome 
and  the  settlements  had  taken  root,  popular  ap- 
preciation of  the  New  World  as  the  land  of  op- 
portunity spread  rapidly.  The  State  Papers  of 
so  early  a  date  as  1649  contain  a  petition  from 
Captain  John  Bayley  setting  forth  that  he  has 
a  scheme  for  ship  building  in  Ireland,  in  connec- 
tion wherewith  he  will  be  able  to  plant  in  Vir- 
ginia "100  poor  people  yearly  with  all  necessary 
provisions."  He  says  he  has  already  done  much 
work  in  explaining  the  scheme  and  interesting 
people  in  it,  and  asks  permission  to  collect  fund;s 
for  it  in  all  parishes  of  England  and  Ireland. 

The  first  notice  in  the  State  Papers  of  any 
considerable  emigration  from  Ulster  to  America 
appears  in  May,  1656.  A  letter  written  from 
Lisnegarvy  says:  "We  are  very  full  of  soldiers 
come  from  all  parts  to  ship  at  Carrickfergus  and 
where  eight  or  ten  are  appointed  out  of  a  com- 
pany commonly  three  times  as  many  are  offer- 
ing and  desiring  to  go."  The  soldiers  referred 
to  presumably  belonged  to  the  Cromwellian  army 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  169 

in  Ireland  which  the  Government  was  endeavor- 
ing to  disband.  Land  in  Ireland  was  offered  to 
them  but  they  showed  no  disposition  to  settle  on 
it,  though  it  appears  from  the  letter  quoted  that  a 
chance  to  get  to  America  was  eagerly  seized. 
But  emigration  of  this  character  could  not  be 
properly  described  as  a  movement  of  Ulster 
Scots.  The  true  beginning  of  that  probably  took 
place  in  connection  with  the  growth  of  the  trade 
between  Scotland  and  America,  in  which  Ulster 
naturally  participated.  Scotch  mercantile  enter- 
prise which  had  long  been  noted  for  its  bold 
activity  and  wide  range  was  not  likely  to  neglect 
such  a  promising  field  as  America,  and  there  are 
many  indications  that  a  brisk  trade  between  Scot- 
land, America  and  the  West  Indies  was  estab- 
lished the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  English  State  Papers  record  urgent  com- 
plaints from  English  merchants  that  Scotch  ships 
were  spoiling  their  trade  with  the  American  plan- 
tations. In  1695  Edward  Randolph,  a  Mary- 
land official,  recommended  that  in  order  to  check 
Scotch  trade  the  three  lower  counties  of  Dela- 
ware should  be  annexed  to  Maryland,  West 
Jersey  to  Pennsylvania,  East  Jersey  to  New 
York  and  Rhode  Island  to  Massachusetts.  The 
obnoxious  trade  must  have  been  going  on  a  long 
time  before  it  could  have  acquired  such  extent 
and  importance  as  to  provoke  such  sweeping 


170  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

measures.  Scotch  predilection  for  American  ad- 
venture was  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  un- 
fortunate Darien  expedition  of  1698.  Three 
quarters  of  a  million  sterling  were  subscribed 
with  the  idea  of  establishing  a  New  Caledonia  on 
the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  Fleets  carrying  first 
1,200  men  and  later  1,500  men  were  sent  out  to 
occupy  the  country,  the  result  being  disastrous 
failure  and  complete  abandonment. 

The  first  distinctively  Scotch-Irish  settle- 
ments known  to  have  taken  place  in  America 
were  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland.  That 
colony,  granted  to  Lord  Baltimore  in  1632,  was 
prior  to  that  time  chiefly  known  for  its  trade  in 
beaver  skins  obtained  from  the  Indians.  St. 
Mary's,  the  first  capital  of  Maryland,  was  located 
on  the  site  of  a  trading  post.  Religious  toler- 
ation was  one  of  the  inducements  to  settlers  of- 
fered by  the  Proprietors.  It  was  hoped  by  this 
means  that  people  would  be  attracted  from  other 
colonies  as  well  as  from  Europe.  In  1643  Lord 
Baltimore  wrote  to  Captain  Gibbons  of  Boston 
describing  the  land  grants  Maryland  was  offer- 
ing to  settlers,  "with  free  liberty  of  religion." 

The  records  are  silent  as  to  when  and  how  the 
Scotch-Irish  entered  Maryland  but  it  was  a 
natural  consequence  of  the  large  inducements 
which  the  Maryland  Proprietary  was  offering  to 
settlers.    In  1648,  when  commissioning  William 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  171 

Stone  as  Governor  of  Maryland,  Lord  Baltimore 
set  forth  that  Stone  "hath  undertaken  in  some 
short  time  to  procure  five  hundred  people  of 
British  or  Irish  descent  to  come  from  other  places 
and  plant  and  reside  within  our  said  province  of 
Maryland  for  the  advancement  of  our  colony 
there."  Stone,  a  Protestant,  who  had  himself 
come  into  Maryland  from  the  Eastern  Shore  of 
Virginia,  is  known  to  have  promoted  a  Puritan 
emigration  from  that  section  into  Maryland.  In 
1649  Lord  Baltimore  offered  3,000  acres  of  land 
for  every  thirty  persons  brought  in  by  any  ad- 
venturer or  planter.  The  influx  of  settlers  that 
resulted  from  such  measures  is  doubtless  account- 
able for  the  beginnings  of  Scotch-Irish  settle- 
ment in  Maryland.  The  known  facts  all 
harmonize  with  this  supposition.  The  earliest 
notice  of  an  American  minister  from  Ireland  ap- 
pears in  a  letter  of  April  13, 1669,  from  Matthew 
Hill,  an  English  non-conformist  minister,  to 
Richard  Baxter,  on  whose  advice  Hill  had  gone 
to  Maryland.  Describing  the  situation  in  Mary- 
land, Hill  remarked:  "We  have  many  also  of 
the  reformed  religion  who  have  a  long  time  lived 
as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  though  last  year 
brought  in  a  young  man  from  Ireland  who  hath 
already  had  good  success  in  his  work." 

The  Irish  minister  thus  referred  to  has  never 
been  identified.     Dr.  Briggs  in  his  American 


172  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Presbyterianism  thinks  he  may  have  been  one 
of  those  driven  into  exile  from  Ireland  by  the 
persecutions  beginning  in  1663.  This  is  quite 
likely  but  the  fact  cannot  be  established.  The 
first  Presbyterian  minister  of  whom  there  is  cer- 
tain knowledge  was  William  Traill,  who,  in 
1672,  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
congregation  at  Lifford,  in  the  Presbytery  of 
Laggan,  Ireland.  He  was  clerk  of  the  Presby- 
tery and  was  one  of  five  ministers  prosecuted  in 
1681  for  observing  a  special  fast  appointed  by 
the  Presbytery.  The  ministers  were  sentenced  to 
pay  a  fine  of  twenty  pounds  each  and  on  their 
refusal  were  sentenced  to  prison.  Reid  says: 
"They  were  confined  in  LifTord,  though  not  very 
rigorously,  for  above  eight  months,  when  they 
were  released  by  the  sheriff,  and  their  fines  after- 
ward remitted  by  the  court  of  exchequer  on  pay- 
ment of  their  fees."  It  is  probable  that  upon  his 
release  from  prison  in  1682  Traill  went  directly 
to  Maryland  where  he  knew  he  would  be  among 
friends.  The  records  of  Somerset  county,  Mary- 
land, show  that  he  acquired  133  acres  on  the 
Pocomoke  River  near  Rehoboth  on  May  8,  1686, 
and  it  is  probable  that  he  was  the  founder  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Rehoboth.  He  was 
evidently  held  in  marked  esteem  as  he  received 
bequests  from  John  White  in  1685  and  from 
John  Ship  way  in  1687.    In  November,  1689,  he 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  173 

was  one  of  the  signers  of  a  petition  to  William 
and  Mary  asking  "protection  in  securing  our 
religion,  lives  and  liberty  under  Protestant  Gov- 
ernors." Somerset  County  records  show  that  in 
February,  1690,  he  gave  a  friend  a  power  of  at- 
torney to  convey  land,  which  was  doubtless  done 
as  an  incident  of  his  return  to  Scotland,  where 
on  September  17,  1690,  he  became  pastor  of  the 
church  of  Borthwick,  near  Edinburgh. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  Thomas  Wilson,  an- 
other minister  known  to  have  been  in  Somerset 
County  at  this  period,  was  also  from  the  Laggan 
Presbytery.  The  Presbytery  records  have  sev- 
eral entries  in  regard  to  Thomas  Wilson  between 
1674  and  1678.  It  appears  that  he  was  pastor 
of  Killybegs,  a  parish  on  the  western  coast  of 
Donegal,  where  he  was  having  great  difficulty  in 
getting  a  living.  An  entry  of  July  3,  1678,  notes 
that  Killybegs  has  paid  him  only  twelve  pounds 
a  year  for  the  past  two  years,  with  no  prospects 
of  improvement.  From  1681  to  1691  there  is  a 
blank  in  the  Presbytery  minutes,  but  when  they 
resume  there  is  no  further  mention  of  Killybegs 
or  Wilson.  But  a  Thomas  Wilson  appears  in  the 
Maryland  land  records  as  acquiring  from  Colonel 
William  Stevens  on  May  20,  1681,  a  parcel  of 
land  called  Darby,  containing  350  acres.  He 
was  the  first  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Manokin,  and  as  its  pastor  is  mentioned  in  the 


174  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

will  of  John  Galbraith,  1691,  and  the  will  of 
David  Brown,  1697. 

Samuel  Davis,  another  Maryland  minister  at 
this  period,  is  supposed  to  be  an  Irishman,  as  it 
seems  probable  that  he  is  meant  by  a  reference 
made  in  1706  to  "an  Irish  Presbyterian"  who 
preached  in  Delaware  for  some  years.  A 
"Samuel  Davies,"  who  was  residing  in  Somerset 
County  in  1678,  may  have  been  the  same  person. 
In  1684  a  marriage  was  celebrated  by  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Davies  in  Somerset  County,  and  in  Sep- 
tember of  that  year  he  received  from  Colonel 
Stevens  a  warrant  to  have  laid  out  a  tract  of 
500  acres  upon  St.  Martin's  Creek,  southeast 
side  of  the  Pocomoke  River.  He  was  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Snow  Hill  in  1691, 
remaining  there  until  1698  when  he  removed 
to  Hoarkill,  now  Lewes,  Delaware,  where  he  re- 
sided and  preached  for  a  number  of  years. 

The  Colonel  Stevens  who  appears  in  the 
records  as  a  conveyer  of  land  to  the  early  Presby- 
terian ministers  of  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Mary- 
land seems  to  have  been  active  in  promoting 
immigration  in  pursuance  of  Lord  Baltimore's 
policy.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
Somerset  County,  and  was  for  22  years  a  judge 
of  the  county  court.  In  1684  he  was  appointed 
by  Lord  Baltimore  Deputy  Lieutenant  for  the 
province.    He  died  on  his  plantation  near  Reho- 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  175 

both  December  23,  1687,  aged  57  years.  The  in- 
terest he  took  in  procuring  Ulster  ministers  for 
the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland  indicates  the 
existence  of  Scotch-Irish  settlements  there.  An 
entry  of  December  29,  1680,  on  the  minutes  of 
the  Laggan  Presbytery  says: 

"Collonell  Stevens  from  Maryland  beside 
Virginia,  his  desire  of  a  godly  minister  is 
presented  to  us,  the  meeting  will  consider  it 
seriously  and  do  what  they  can  in  it.  Mr. 
John  Hoart  is  to  write  to  Mr.  Keip  about 
this  and  Mr.  Robert  Rule  to  the  meetings  of 
Route  and  Tyrone,  and  Mr.  William  Traill 
to  the  meetings  of  Down  and  Antrim." 

No  action  in  response  to  this  application  is  re- 
corded, the  minutes  discontinuing  in  1681  and 
not  resuming  until  1690.  But  the  removal  of 
Traill  to  Maryland,  and  the  subsequent  removal 
of  Makemie  is  doubtless  to  be  ascribed  to  this 
call.  Francis  Makemie,  famous  as  a  pioneer  or- 
ganizer of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America, 
was  born  near  Ramelton,  Ireland,  and  was  edu- 
cated at  the  University  of  Glasgow.  When  the 
letter  from  Colonel  Stevens  arrived,  Makemie 
had  been  for  some  time  preparing  for  the  min- 
istry under  the  supervision  of  Laggan  Presby- 
tery. The  minutes  for  1681  note  that  he 
submitted  a  homily  which  was  approved,  and 
presumably  he  was  licensed  soon  thereafter. 
Owing  to  the  discontinuance  of  the  minutes  there 


176  THE    SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

is  no  official  record  of  the  date,  but  it  must  have 
been  prior  to  April  2,  1682,  as  it  is  known  that  on 
that  date  he  preached  at  Burt,  Ireland.  He  is 
next  heard  of  in  Maryland,  whither  he  went 
probably  in  1683.  He  did  not  settle  permanently 
for  some  years,  but  carried  on  an  itinerant  min- 
istry in  Maryland,  Virginia  and  the  Barbadoes. 
A  letter  of  July  22,  1684,  mentions  that  he  was 
then  on  the  Elizabeth  River,  Virginia  (near  the 
present  site  of  Norfolk) ,  ministering  to  a  congre- 
gation "who  had  a  dissenting  minister  formerly 
from  Ireland  until  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  re- 
move him  by  death  in  August  last."  The  name 
of  this  Irish  minister  has  not  been  discovered, 
and  no  reference  to  him  has  been  found  other 
than  that  made  by  Makemie. 

Reid  says  that  during  1684  the  greater  part  of 
the  ministers  composing  the  Presbytery  of  Lag- 
gan  intimated  their  intention  of  removing  to 
America  "because  of  persecutions  and  general 
poverty  abounding  in  those  parts,  and  on  account 
of  their  straits  and  little  or  no  access  to  their 
ministry."  But  it  does  not  appear  that  they  put 
that  design  into  effect,  for  with  the  death  of 
Charles  II.  the  following  year  the  pressure  re- 
laxed. The  persecutions  to  which  the  Ulster 
Presbyterians  were  exposed  were  less  severe  than 
those  from  which  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  were 
then  suffering.    There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  17T 

religious  motive  was  an  important  factor  in 
Scotch  emigration  at  this  period.  In  1684  and 
1685  bodies  of  Scotch  people  fleeing  from  perse- 
cution landed  in  East  Jersey.  George  Scot, 
Laird  of  Pitlochie,  who  was  active  in  the  move- 
ment, gave  as  his  reason  for  the  enterprise  that 
"there  are  several  people  in  this  kingdom,  who, 
upon  account  of  their  not  going  that  length  in 
conformity  required  of  them  by  the  law,  do  live 
very  uneasy;  who,  beside  the  other  agreeable  ac- 
commodations of  that  place  may  there  freely 
enjoy  their  own  principles  without  hazard  or 
trouble."  In  a  volume  which  he  published  in 
Edinburgh  describing  conditions  and  opportuni- 
ties in  East  Jersey,  he  made  this  mention  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  in  Maryland: 

"I  had  an  account  lately  from  an  ac- 
quaintance of  mine,  that  the  Province  of 
Ulster,  where  most  of  our  nation  are  seated, 
could  spare  forty  thousand  men  and  women 
to  an  American  plantation,  and  be  suffi- 
ciently peopled  itself.  The  gentleman  who 
gave  me  this  information  is  since  settled  in 
Maryland;  the  account  he  sends  of  that 
country  is  so  encouraging  that  I  hear  a  great 
many  of  his  acquaintances  are  making  for 
that  voyage." 

It  is  evident  from  this  that  there  was  a  particu- 
larly close  connection  between  Ulster  and  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  settlements  at  this  period.    Ad- 


178  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ditional  evidence  of  this  is  furnished  by  the 
fact  that  the  congregation  on  Elizabeth  River, 
Virginia,  to  which  Makemie  ministered  for  a 
time,  obtained  his  successor  from  the  bounds  of 
Laggan  Presbytery.  He  was  Josias  McKee,  son 
of  Patrick  McKee,  of  St.  Johnstone,  County 
Donegal.  He  probably  began  his  ministry  in 
1691  and  he  continued  pastoral  work  in  the  Eliza- 
beth River  country  until  his  death  in  November, 
1716. 

These  particulars,  which  we  owe  to  the  minute 
research  made  by  historians  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Church,  afford  conclusive  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  distinctively  Scotch-Irish 
settlements  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia  considerably  prior  to  1680,  and 
probably  dating  back  to  the  immigration  started 
in  1649.  Doubtless,  in  view  of  the  intimacy 
between  Scotland  and  Ulster,  there  was  some 
Ulster  ingredient  in  Scotch  trade  and  Scotch 
settlements  in  other  American  colonies  during 
the  seventeenth  century  but  no  record  has  been 
discovered  of  distinctively  Scotch-Irish  settle- 
ments at  this  period  except  in  the  Chesapeake 
Bay  region.  The  records  of  ministerial  supply 
are  of  themselves  enough  to  show  that  the  Scotch- 
Irish  community  was  well  established.  More- 
over, this  supposition  is  confirmed  by  records 
preserved  in  the  State  Papers.     In  a  report  of 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  179 

July  19,  1677,  Lord  Baltimore  gave  this  account 
of  religious  conditions  in  Maryland: 

"That  there  are  now  four  ministers  of  the 
Church  of  England  residing  there  who  have 
plantations  of  their  own,  and  those  who  have 
not  are  maintained  by  voluntary  contribu- 
tions of  their  own  persuasion,  as  others  are 
of  the  Presbyterians,  Independents,  Ana- 
baptists, Quakers  and  Romish  church.  That 
there  are  a  sufficient  number  of  churches  and 
meeting  houses  for  the  people  there  which 
are  kept  in  good  repair  by  voluntary  con- 
tributions. .  .  .  That  three-fourths  of  the 
inhabitants  are  Presbyterians,  Independ- 
ents, Anabaptists  and  Quakers,  the  rest  be- 
ing of  the  Church  of  England  and  Romish 
church." 

The  Presbyterians  mentioned  as  maintaining 

ministers  "of  their  own  persuasion"  may  be  taken 

to  include  the   Scotch-Irish  settlers.     A  more 

distinct  reference  appears  in  a  later  report  made 

by  Lord  Baltimore,  which  was  received  by  the 

Board  of  Trade  on  March  26,  1678.     Replying 

to  interrogatories  from  the  English  Government, 

Lord  Baltimore  says : 

"All  the  planters  in  general  affect  the 
style  of  merchants,  because  they  all  sell  to- 
bacco, and  their  chief  estate  is  the  number 
of  their  servants,  who  serve  generally  five 
or  six  years,  and  then  become  planters  and 
call  themselves  merchants.  .  .  .  Can  give  no 
probable  guess  of  the  number  of  masters  or 
servants,  nor  of  the  number  imported  for 


180  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

any  time,  but  are  generally  English  and 
Irish." 

We  are  not  left  to  inference  as  to  whether 

these  "Irish"  included  Ulster  Scots,  for  some 

years  later  we  find  the  same  Chesapeake  Bay 

settlements  appearing  in  the   State  Papers  as 

distinctively  Scotch-Irish.     In  the  course  of  a 

long  report,  June  25,  1695,  from  Sir  Thomas 

Laurence,  Secretary  of  Maryland,  the  following 

occurs : 

"In  the  two  counties  of  Dorchester  and 
Somerset,  where  the  Scotch-Irish  are  most 
numerous,  they  almost  clothe  themselves  by 
their  linen  and  woolen  manufactures  and 
plant  little  tobacco,  which  learning  from  one 
another,  they  leave  off  planting.  Shipping, 
therefore,  and  the  bringing  in  of  all  manner 
of  English  clothing  is  to  be  encouraged,  and 
if  they  be  brought  in  at  easy  rates,  the 
planter  will  live  comfortably  and  will  be  in- 
duced to  go  on  planting  tobacco." 

Laurence  says  that  cotton  weaving  has  begun 
in  Virginia  and  that  some  few  have  begun  to 
grow  cotton  in  Maryland.  He  suggested  that  it 
be  taken  into  consideration  "whether  an  act  of 
Parliament  should  not  be  passed  to  prevent  the 
planting  of  cotton  in  these  countries."  This 
mention  of  the  Scotch-Irish  exhibits  them  as  a 
community  so  long  established  that  linen  and 
woolen  manufactures  had  attained  considerable 
development.    This  circumstance  tallies  with  the 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  181 

fact  that  so  early  as  1680  the  community  was 
large  enough  to  issue  a  call  for  ministerial  sup- 
ply. There  is  no  record  of  any  other  Scotch- 
Irish  settlement  in  America  at  that  time.  The 
most  likely  place  then  would  have  been  Massa- 
chusetts, but  a  report  of  Governor  Bradstreet  of 
May  18,  1680,  on  conditions  in  that  colony  says 
that  very  few  English,  Scots,  Irish  or  foreigners 
had  arrived  there  for  seven  years ;  that  there  were 
there  then  about  120  negroes  "and  it  may  be  as 
many  Scots  bought  and  sold  for  merchants  in 
the  time  of  the  war  with  Scotland  .  .  .  and 
about  half  so  many  Irish." 

All  accessible  data  indicate  that  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay  settlements  were  the  first  distinctively 
Scotch-Irish  settlements  made  in  America.  But 
these  settlements  left  in  the  wake  of  the  tobacco 
trade  do  not  appear  to  have  been  important  as  a 
stage  in  the  Scotch-Irish  occupation  of  America. 
When  the  emigration  from  Ulster  began  on  a 
large  scale  in  the  eighteenth  century  it  turned 
chiefly  to  Pennsylvania.  The  Maryland  settle- 
ments, however,  possess  much  importance  in  con- 
nection with  the  planting  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  this  country,  as  will  appear  when  that 
branch  of  the  subject  comes  up  for  consideration 
in  the  course  of  this  history. 

The  economic  conditions  that  occasioned  a 
genuine  exodus  from  Ulster  early  in  the  eigh- 


182  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

teenth  century  were  the  outcome  of  the  narrow 
views  of  commercial  policy  that  then  inspired 
governmental  action.  Colonies  and  plantations 
were  valued  simply  as  a  convenience  to  home  in- 
terests and  it  was  considered  intolerable  that  they 
should  develop  industries  of  a  competitive  char- 
acter. The  anxiety  which  Sir  Thomas  Laurence 
expressed  over  the  linen  and  woolen  manufac- 
tures of  the  Scotch-Irish  on  the  Eastern  Shore 
of  Maryland  is  quite  typical.  Strafford  during 
his  lieutenancy  of  Ireland  showed  genuine  solici- 
tude for  the  development  of  industry  and  yet  his 
correspondence  shows  that  he  held  that  Irish  en- 
terprise in  such  an  important  English  industry 
as  woolen  manufacture  was  reprehensible.  After 
the  Restoration,  when  Ireland  began  to  recover 
from  the  Cromwellian  wars,  Irish  exports  of  cat- 
tle excited  the  alarm  of  English  landowners  who 
complained  that  the  competition  of  the  Irish 
pastures  was  lowering  English  rents.  Laws 
were  accordingly  enacted  in  1665  and  i680  ab- 
solutely prohibiting  the  importation  into  Eng- 
land from  Ireland  of  all  cattle,  sheep  and  swine, 
of  beef,  pork,  bacon  and  mutton  and  even  of 
butter  and  cheese. 

This  attitude  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  England  but  was  just  as  strong  in  Scot- 
land at  that  period.  The  Government  of  Scotland 
complained  of  the  effect  of  English  laws  on 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  183 

Scottish  industry  and  obtained  some  concessions, 
but  meanwhile  it  subjected  Ireland  to  worse 
treatment  than  that  of  which  it  complained  when 
it  was  the  sufferer.  In  February,  1667,  on  the 
urgent  representation  of  Scottish  traders,  an 
embargo  was  laid  on  the  importation  of  Irish 
cattle,  salt  beef,  meal  and  all  kinds  of  grain ;  and 
subsequently  horses  were  added  to  the  list.  This 
embargo  was  probably  more  detrimental  to 
Ulster  than  the  English  prohibition,  and  it  ex- 
plains "the  general  poverty  abounding  in  those 
parts"  mentioned  as  one  of  the  reasons  that  in 
1684  caused  a  general  disposition  toward  emigra- 
tion among  the  ministers  of  the  Laggan  Presby- 
tery. One  marked  effect  of  this  sort  of  legisla- 
tion was  to  build  up  a  smuggling  trade  that  long 
abounded  in  Ulster  and  on  the  neighboring 
coasts  of  Scotland. 

In  addition  to  shutting  Irish  produce  out  of 
English  markets,  English  commercial  selfishness 
was  as  urgently  solicitous  that  Irish  enterprise 
should  not  invade  the  colonies  and  interfere  with 
English  trade  there.  They  were  England's  colo- 
nies and  it  was  held  that  Ireland  had  no  right  to 
participate  in  colonial  trade.  Acts  passed  in 
1663,  1670  and  1696  excluded  Irish  vessels 
from  the  American  trade  and  prohibited  any  im- 
portation directly  from  the  colonies  to  Ireland. 
In  the  presence  of  such  restraints  upon  the  com- 


184  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

merce  of  the  country  in  its  natural  products,  the 
industrial  activity  of  the  people  sought  an  outlet 
in  manufactures.  Woolen  manufacture,  whose 
beginning  in  1636  Strafford  had  discouraged, 
now  revived.  The  quality  of  Irish  wool  was  ex- 
cellent and  the  cloth  obtained  such  a  reputation 
that  industrial  prospects  became  bright.  Al- 
though shut  out  of  Scotland,  England  and 
America,  Ireland  might  trade  with  the  rest  of  the 
world  and  in  that  way  establish  her  prosperity. 
The  Irish  woolen  trade  became  so  important  that 
it  attracted  capital  and  manufacturers  from 
Scotland,  England  and  even  Continental  Eu- 
rope. But  there  was  an  important  woolen 
industry  in  England  whose  loud  complaints 
were  soon  voiced  in  Parliament.  The  House  of 
Lords  and  the  House  of  Commons  both  made 
urgent  representations  to  King  William  that  the 
English  woolen  manufacture  was  menaced  by  the 
Irish  industry.  The  memorial  of  the  House  of 
Commons  urged  William  "to  enjoin  all  those 
you  employ  in  Ireland  to  make  it  their  care,  and 
use  their  utmost  diligence  to  hinder  the  exporta- 
tion of  wool  from  Ireland,  except  it  be  imported 
hither,  and  for  discouraging  the  woolen  manu- 
facture." The  King  promised  to  comply  with 
the  request  and  the  Irish  Parliament  itself  was 
submissive.  At  a  session  begun  in  September, 
1698,  the  Irish  House  of  Commons  pledged  its 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  185 

hearty  endeavors  to  establish  linen  and  hempen 
manufacture  in  Ireland,  with  the  hope  that  there 
might  be  found  "such  a  temperament"  in  respect 
to  the  woolen  trade  as  would  prevent  it  from  be- 
ing injurious  to  that  of  England.  It  then  pro- 
ceeded to  impose  heavy  duties  on  the  export  of 
Irish  woolen  goods.  But  even  this  was  not 
enough  to  satisfy  the  English  woolen  manufac- 
turers. By  existing  laws  Irish  woolen  manufac- 
tures were  already  excluded  from  the  colonial 
market,  and  were  virtually  excluded  from  Eng- 
land by  prohibitory  duties.  In  1699  the  work 
of  exclusion  was  completed  by  a  law  enacted  by 
the  British  Parliament  prohibiting  the  Irish  from 
exporting  manufactured  wool  to  any  other  coun- 
try whatever. 

The  main  industry  of  Ireland  was  thus  de- 
stroyed. Even  the  promise  that  encouragement 
would  be  shown  to  other  manufactures  was  only 
partially  and  grudgingly  fulfilled.  It  was  not 
until  1705  that,  at  the  urgent  petition  of  the 
Irish  Parliament,  the  Irish  were  allowed  to  ex- 
port white  and  brown  linens  to  the  British  col- 
onies, but  checked,  striped  and  dyed  linens  were 
absolutely  excluded,  and  no  colonial  goods  could 
be  brought  directly  to  Ireland.  Efforts  to  build 
up  linen  manufacture  met  with  opposition  in 
England  on  the  ground  that  the  competition  of 
Irish  linen  with  Dutch  linen  might  hurt  the 


186  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Dutch  market  for  English  woolen  manufactures, 
and  would  therefore  be  indirectly  injurious  to 
England.  It  was  only  after  a  hard  struggle  that 
the  linen  manufacture  escaped  the  fate  of  the 
Irish  woolen  manufacture.  Hempen  manufac- 
ture was  discouraged  until  it  ceased.  Indeed  for 
a  long  period  no  exactions  seemed  too  great  to 
make  upon  Ireland.  There  was  even  agitation 
in  favor  of  measures  to  prohibit  all  fisheries  on 
the  Irish  shore  except  with  boats  built  and 
manned  by  Englishmen. 

After  the  Revolution  of  1688  Scotch  migra- 
tion set  strongly  toward  Ulster.  Land  was  of- 
fered on  long  lease  at  low  rents  and  for  some 
years  a  steady  stream  of  Scotch  Presbyterians 
poured  into  the  country.  In  1715  Archbishop 
Synge  estimated  that  not  less  than  50,000  Scotch 
families  had  settled  in  Ulster  since  the  Revolu- 
tion. In  1717  and  1718  as  the  leases  began  to 
fall  in,  the  landlords  put  up  the  rents  double  and 
often  treble,  and  the  smaller  farms  tended  to  pass 
from  Protestant  hands  to  Catholic  tenants  who 
were  ready  to  bid  higher  terms.  And  while  the 
tenant  farmers  were  rackrented  by  their  land- 
lords they  had  to  pay  tithes  for  the  support  of 
the  Established  Church  whose  ministrations  they 
did  not  desire  or  receive.  Such  conditions,  intro- 
duced at  a  time  when  the  commercial  legislation 
of    England    was    uprooting    Irish    industry, 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  187 

created  an  intolerable  situation.  Moreover, 
fresh  religious  disabilities  were  put  upon  the 
Presbyterians.  The  penal  act  of  1704  against 
the  Roman  Catholics  had  a  test  clause  which  ex- 
cluded Presbyterians  from  all  civil  and  military 
office.  Presbyterian  ministers  were  legally  liable 
to  penalties  for  celebrating  marriages,  and  cases 
occurred  of  prosecutions  although  as  a  rule  the 
Government  was  more  tolerant  than  the  laws. 
Entries  on  the  Ulster  Synod  records  show  how 
solicitous  the  ministers  were  that  none  of  their 
communion  should  provoke  the  authorities  by 
marrying  members  of  the  Established  Church. 

To  escape  from  such  conditions  the  people  be- 
gan to  flee  the  country  in  great  numbers,  often 
accompanied  by  ministers.  An  instance  of  emi- 
gration under  pastoral  care  is  supplied  by  an 
entry  on  the  records  of  the  General  Synod  of 
Ulster,  June  15,  1714,  which  at  the  same  time 
illustrates  the  care  exercised  as  to  ministerial 
qualifications  in  such  cases.  It  appears  that 
John  Jarvie  had  been  a  probationer  under  the 
Presbytery  of  Down,  but  had  received  ordina- 
tion from  the  Presbytery  of  Belfast,  and  the 
Synod  called  for  explanations.  The  Belfast 
Presbytery  replied  that: 

"Mr.  Jarvie  having  a  great  inclination 
to  go  to  some  of  the  Plantations  in  America, 
Down  Prebry  having  signified  that  to  the 


188  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

late  Synod  of  Belfast,  and  gave  a  very  good 
character  of  him — Mr.  John  Jarvie  bringing 
testimonies  from  the  Prebry  of  Down  to  the 
Prebry  of  Belfast,  which  was  abundantly 
satisfying — he  readily  subjected  to  the 
Prebry  of  Belfast ;  that  Mr.  Robert  Wilson, 
mercht  in_Belfast,  wrot  to  Mr.  Kirkpatrick, 
to  be  comunicate  to  the  Prebry  of  Belfast, 
that  there  was  a  ship  in  the  Logh  of  Belfast 
bound  for  South  Carolina;  that  the  seamen 
and  passengers  amount  to  the  number  of  70, 
that  it  was  earnestly  desir'd  that  they  may 
have  a  Chaplain  on  board,  and  if  ordain'd, 
so  much  the  better  for  the  voyage,  and  also 
for  the  person  to  be  ordain'd  and  the  Coun- 
try whither  they  are  bound." 

It  was  further  explained  that  before  ordaining 
Mr.  Jarvie  the  Belfast  Presbytery  had  obtained 
the  consent  of  Down,  and  examined  him  "in 
Extemporary  Questions,  Cases  of  Conscience, 
Church  History,  Chronolog:  Questions"  to  all 
of  which  he  "gave  satisfying  answers."  Further- 
more, Mr.  Jarvie  "had  an  'Exegesis  de  Perfec- 
tione  Scripturae  contra  Papistes/  and  sustain' d 
his  Thesis,  delivered  a  popular  sermon,  in  all  of 
which  he  acquit  himself  with  approbation." 

In  the  spring  of  1718  a  minister  in  Ulster 
writing  to  a  friend  in  Scotland  said:  "There  is 
likely  to  be  a  great  desolation  in  the  northern 
parts  of  this  Kingdom  by  the  removal  of  several 
of  our  brethren  to  the  American  plantations.  No 
less  than  six  ministers  have  demitted  their  con- 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  189 

gregations,  and  great  numbers  of  their  people  go 
with  them;  so  that  we  are  daily  alarmed  with  both 
ministers  and  people  going  off." 

The  original  sympathy  between  the  Puritan 
settlements  in  Ulster  and  the  Puritan  settlements 
in  New  England  naturally  had  the  effect  of  di- 
recting emigration  to  New  England  when  the 
Scotch-Irish  began  to  remove  from  Ulster.  As 
in  the  abortive  attempt  of  1635,  ministers  appear 
as  leaders  of  the  first  systematic  movement.  The 
Rev.  William  Homes,  born  in  1663  of  an  old 
Ulster  family,  came  over  to  Martha's  Vineyard 
about  1686,  and  obtained  a  position  as  a  school 
teacher.  He  returned  to  Ireland,  studied  for  the 
ministry,  and  was  ordained  December  21,  1692, 
as  pastor  of  a  church  at  Strabane,  in  the  Presby- 
tery of  Convoy.  On  September  26,  1693,  he 
married  Katherine,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Robert 
Craighead  of  Londonderry.  The  Rev.  William 
Homes  and  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Craighead,  decided  to  move  to  New  England, 
and  they  sailed  from  Londonderry  on  the  ship 
Thomas  and  Jane,  arriving  in  Boston  the  first 
week  in  October,  1714.  The  settling  in  New 
England  of  these  two  ministers  with  extensive 
family  connections  in  Ulster  opened  a  channel 
into  which  immigration  soon  began  to  flow. 

Homes's  eldest  son,  Robert,  born  July  23, 
1694,  in  Stragolan,  County  Fermanagh,  became 


190  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

captain  of  a  ship  engaged  in  transporting  emi- 
grants to  America.  He  married  Mary  Franklin 
of  Boston,  a  sister  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  Cap- 
tain Homes  appears  to  have  been  the  agent  by 
whom  people  at  Strabane,  Donoghmore,  Done- 
gal and  Londonderry  were  apprised  of  oppor- 
tunities of  removing  to  New  England.  It  is  re- 
corded that  Captain  Homes  sailed  for  Ireland 
April  13,  1718,  and  his  ship  returned  "full  of 
passengers  about  the  middle  of  October." 

The  regular  intercourse  between  Ulster  and 
New  England  thus  established  led  to  movements 
on  a  scale  approaching  the  transportation  of 
communities.  The  congregations  in  the  valley  of 
the  Bann  became  so  interested  that  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Boyd,  pastor  of  Macosquin,  went  to  New 
England  as  their  agent  to  see  what  arrangements 
could  be  made  for  settling  there  in  a  body.  Mr. 
Boyd  was  well  received  and  having  finished  his 
mission,  preached  a  valedictory  sermon,  on  March 
19,  1718.  It  was  published  with  an  introduction 
by  the  Rev.  Increase  Mather  in  which  occurs  the 
following  reference  to  Boyd's  mission: 

"Many  in  that  Kingdom  [Ireland]  hav- 
ing had  thoughts  of  a  remove  to  this  part  of 
the  World,  have  considered  him  as  a  Person 
suitably  qualified  to  take  a  voyage  hither, 
and  to  make  Enquiry  what  Encouragement 
or  otherwise  they  might  expect  in  case  they 
should  engage  in  so  weighty  and  hazardous 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  191 

an  undertaking  as  that  of  Transporting 
themselves  &  Families  over  so  vast  an  Ocean. 
The  issue  of  this  Affair  has  a  great  depend- 
ence on  the  conduct  of  this  Worthy  Author. 
The  Lord  direct  him  in  it." 

Boyd  brought  with  him  a  petition  to  Governor 
Shute  of  New  England,  certifying  that  Boyd  had 
been  appointed  "to  assure  his  Excellency  of  our 
sincere  and  hearty  Inclinations  to  Transport  our- 
selves to  that  very  excellent  and  renowned  Plan- 
tation upon  our  obtaining  from  his  Excellency 
suitable  incouragement."  As  well  as  can  be 
made  out  from  the  faded  writing  there  were  322 
signers  of  this  petition,  all  but  thirteen  of  them 
in  fair  autograph.  Only  eleven  made  their 
marks,  a  remarkably  low  percentage  of  illiter- 
acy. Among  the  signers  were  the  Rev.  James 
Teatte  of  Killeshandra,  County  Cavan ;  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Cobham  of  Clough,  County  Antrim ;  the 
Rev.  Robert  Neilson,  a  superannuated  minister, 
formerly  of  Kilraughts  in  the  Presbytery  of 
Route;  the  Rev.  William  Leech  of  Ballymena, 
County  Antrim;  the  Rev.  Robert  Higginbothan 
of  Coleraine,  the  Rev.  John  Porter  of  Bushmills, 
the  Rev.  Henry  Neill  of  Ballyrashane  (the  last 
three,  all  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cole- 
raine) ;  the  Rev.  Thomas  Elder  of  County  Down ; 
the  Rev.  James  Thomson  of  Ballywillan,  near 
Coleraine.  Three  of  the  signers,  Samuel  Wil- 
son, Alexr.  Dunlap  and  Arch.  Mc  Cook, — have 


192  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  degree  M.  A.  appended  to  their  names,  which 
was  then  often  a  clerical  dignity,  but  they  are 
not  known  as  belonging  to  the  Presbyterian  min- 
istry of  Ulster.  The  ministers  who  signed  the 
petition  have  appended  to  their  names  the  initials 
V.D.M.  a  contraction  for  Verbi  Dei  Minister — 
Minister  of  the  Word  of  God.  The  ministers 
who  signed  did  not  all  emigrate.  Boyd  himself, 
the  agent  of  the  emigrants  in  obtaining  assur- 
ances of  lands  for  settlement,  remained  in 
Ireland. 

Through  those  various  influences  there  was  an 
active  emigration  from  Ulster  to  New  England, 
during  the  period  from  1714-1720  inclusive,  of 
which  precise  details  have  been  obtained  by  the 
research  of  Mr.  Charles  K.  Bolton.  The  list 
given  by  him  in  his  Scotch-Irish  Pioneers  in 
Ulster  and  America,  shows  that  five  ships  ar- 
rived in  New  England  from  Ireland  in  1714, 
two  in  1715,  three  in  1716,  six  in  1717,  fifteen  in 
1718,  ten  in  1719  and  thirteen  in  1720. 

So  far  as  the  disposition  of  the  Ulster  people 
was  concerned  New  England  would  have  been 
their  American  home,  but  their  reception  and  ex- 
periences were  such  that  the  main  stream  of 
Ulster  immigration  soon  turned  toward  Penn- 
sylvania. The  immigration  to  New  England 
was  from  the  first  regarded  with  anxiety  and  dis- 
trust by  the  leading  people  there.    In  the  letters 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  193 

of  Thomas  Lechmere  to  John  Winthrop  at  the 
period  there  is  a  mention  of  Irish  immigration  in 
1718  with  the  remark:  "20  ministers  with 
their  congregations  in  general,  will  come  over  in 
Spring;  I  wish  their  comeing  so  over  do  not 
prove  fatall  in  the  End."  Even  such  an  ally  of 
the  Irish  as  Cotton  Mather  was  apparently  not 
free  from  anxiety  although  hopeful  of  good  re- 
sults and  friendly  to  the  movement.  In  his  diary 
for  August  7, 1718,  he  wrote :  "But  what  shall  be 
done  for  the  great  number  of  people  that  are 
transporting  themselves  thither  from  ye  North  of 
Ireland :  Much  may  be  done  for  ye  Kingdom  of 
God  in  these  parts  of  ye  World  by  this  Trans- 
portation." 

The  records  of  the  General  Synod  of  Ulster 
make  frequent  references  to  the  departure  of 
ministers  for  America  and  to  the  difficulties  ex- 
perienced in  providing  subsistence  for  the  min- 
isters who  remained.  Representations  of  the  ne- 
cessitous condition  of  ministers  or  their  widows 
and  children  formed  a  staple  topic  at  meetings  of 
the  Synod  and  the  difficulty  of  raising  funds  is 
shown  by  the  frequency  with  which  reiterated  ap- 
peals are  made  for  help  in  particular  cases.  At 
the  meeting  of  Belfast,  June  21,  1720,  it  was 
decided  that  "a  moving  letter  be  writ  by  this 
Synod"  to  all  the  people  of  the  church.  The 
letter  approved  by  the  Synod  began  by  saying : 


194  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

"Dearly  Beloved. 

You  cannot  be  Ignorant  of  the  deplorable 
circumstances  that  many  of  our  Brethren 
are  in,  and  how  exceedingly  deficient  that 
fund  which  was  design'd  for  their  support 
has  prov'd,  in  so  much,  that  to  some  scarce 
can  a  third  part  of  what  was  promist  be 
obtain' d.  Many  of  our  Congregations  who 
us'd  to  contribute,  are  not  now  in  condition 
to  maintain  their  own  Minister,  and  far  less 
give  anything  for  the  relief  of  others.  It  is 
melancholly  to  hear  that  many  of  our  Breth- 
ren are  wanting  ev'n  the  necessaries  of  life; 
others  are  forc'd  to  lay  down  their  charge; 
and  others  to  transport  themselves  to 
America.  The  Credit  of  the  Synod  sinks 
from  an  inability  to  perform  what  they 
promist;  and  notwithstanding  all  the  pains 
that  have  been  taken  time  after  time  to  get 
this  remedy'd,  it  grows  every  year  worse 
and  worse." 

Many  went  not  only  tov  America  but  also  to  the 
West  Indies."  Archbishop  Boulter,  Primate  of 
Ireland,  in  a  letter  written  in  1728,  said: 

"Above  4,200  men,  women  and  children, 
here  have  been  shipped  for  the  West  Indies 
within  three  years,  and  3,100  this  last  sum- 
mer. .  .  .  The  whole  North  is  in  a  ferment 
at  present,  and  people  every  day  engaging 
one  another  to  go  next  year  to  the  West 
Indies.  The  humor  has  spread  like  a  con- 
tagious disease.  .  .  .  The  worst  is  that  it 
affects  only  Protestants  and  rages  chiefly  in  , 
the  North." 


kitd     v^J**T    k  ^  C^1 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  195 

Writing  in  March,  1729,  Archbishop  Boulter 
said  further: 

"The  humor  of  going  to  America  still  con- 
tinues, and  the  scarcity  of  provisions  cer- 
tainly makes  many  quit  us.  There  are  now 
seven  ships  at  Belfast  that  are  carrying  off 
about  1,000  passengers  thither." 

The  alarm  of  the  authorities  over  this  drain  of 
population  caused  letters  of  inquiry  to  be  sent  to 
the  Presbyteries  as  to  the  causes.  The  reply  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Tyrone  has  been  preserved.  It 
gives  as  the  chief  cause  the  religious  test  that  ex- 
cluded Presbyterians  from  all  places  of  public 
trust  and  honor,  and  then  goes  on  to  say : 

"The  bad  seasons  for  three  years  past,  to- 
gether with  the  high  price  of  lands  and 
tythes,  have  all  contributed  to  the  general 
run  to  America,  and  to  the  ruin  of  many 
families,  who  are  daily  leaving  their  houses 
and  lands  desolate." 

The  authorities  showed  themselves  incapable 
of  action  going  to  the  root  of  the  trouble.  All 
that  seemed  to  occur  to  them  was  to  extend  the 
policy  of  prohibition  from  the  industries  of  the 
people  to  the  movements  of  the  people.  The 
records  of  the  English  Privy  Council  contain  the 
following  entry  of  December  4,  1729 : 

"Reference  to  a  Committee  of  a  letter 
from  the  Lords  Justices  of  Ireland  to  the 
Lord  Lieutenant,  Lord  Carteret,  dated  23 


196  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Nov.,  with  a  memorial  from  several  noble- 
men and  gentlemen  on  behalf  of  themselves 
and  others  of  that  kingdom,  relating  to  the 
Great  Numbers  of  Protestant  Subjects  who 
have  lately  transported  themselves  from  the 
North  of  Ireland  to  the  Plantations  on  the 
Continent  of  America,  and  that  Twenty 
Thousand  have  declared  their  Intentions  of 
transporting  themselves  the  ensuing  Spring 
to  the  great  prejudice  of  the  Linnen  Manu- 
facture, and  lessening  the  Protestant  Inter- 
est in  those  parts,  and  also  relating  to  the 
great  Quantities  of  Corn  which  have  been 
lately  bought  up  for  Exportation  to  For- 
eign ports,  and  proposing  the  issuing  of 
Proclamations  to  restrain  the  Exportation 
of  Corn,  and  to  prohibit  the  Subjects  leav- 
ing the  Kingdom.  And  likewise  to  prohibit 
the  carrying  Money  or  Bullion  out  of  the 
Kingdom." 

Some  particulars  of  the  way  in  which  emigra- 
tion was  obstructed  are  given  in  a  letter,  written 
some  time  in  1736,  preserved  among  the  Perm 
manuscripts  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Penn- 
sylvania. The  writer,  John  Stewart,  a  sea  cap- 
tain, says: 

"As  you  are  the  Proprietor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  being  informed  of  your  being  in 
London,  I  would  beg  liberty  to  inform  your 
Worship  of  some  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
poor  people  who  are  flying  from  the  oppres- 
sion of  landlords,  and  tithes,  (as  they  term 
it)  to  several  parts  of  America,  viz: — When 
last  our  Irish  Parliament  was  sitting,  there 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  197 

was  a  bill  brought  in  respecting  the  trans- 
portation of  America ;  which  made  it  next  to 
a  prohibition.  The  said  bill  greatly  alarmed 
the  people,  especially  in  the  North  of  Ire- 
land, and  lest  a  second  should  succeed, 
greater  numbers  than  usual  made  ready. 
But  when  said  landlords  found  it  so,  they 
fell  on  with  other  means  by  distressing  the 
owners  and  masters  of  the  ships,  there  being 
now  ten  in  the  harbor  of  Belfast.  The 
method  they  fell  in  with,  first,  was  that  when 
any  of  said  ships  advertised  that  they  were 
bound  for  such  a  port,  and  when  they  would 
be  in  readiness  to  sail,  and  their  willingness 
to  agree  with  the  passengers  for  which,  and 
no  other  reasons,  they  issued  out  their  war- 
rants and  had  several  of  said  owners  and 
masters  apprehended  and  likewise  the  print- 
ers of  said  advertisements,  and  bound  in 
bonds  of  a  thousand  pounds,  to  appear  at 
Carrickfergus  assizes,  or  thrown  into  a  loath- 
some gaol,  and  for  no  other  reason,  than 
encouraging  his  Majesty's  subjects,  as  they 
were  pleased  to  call  their  indictment,  from 
one  plantation  to  another.  But  even  after 
all  this,  when  the  assizes  came  on,  they  were 
afraid  of  their  enlargement,  and  begged 
very  earnestly  of  the  judges  to  have  them 
continued  upon  their  recognizances,  the  con- 
sequence of  which  may  easily  be  seen.  Most 
of  said  ships  being  strangers,  this  would 
have  effectually  ruined  them.  But  the 
Judge  was  pleased  to  discharge  them.  Nay 
one  of  the  Justices  got  up  in  court  and 
swore  by  God,  if  any  came  to  Lisburn  the 
town  in  which  he  lived,  to  publish  an  adver- 


198  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

tisement  he  would  whip  him  through  the 
town.  To  which  the  Judge  very  mildly  re- 
plied, to  consider  if  they  deserved  it  and  if 
he  whipped  any  person,  to  do  it  according  to 
law.  Money  had  been  offered  by  some  of 
them  to  swear  against  some  of  said  ships  and 
rewards  actually  given,  but  yet  a  more  hell- 
ish contrivance  has  been  thought  of  and  is 
put  in  practice  by  the  Collector  George 
Macartney  of  Belfast.  He  will  not  now, 
when  said  ships  and  passengers  were  just 
ready  to  sail,  so  much  as  allow  the  poor 
people  to  carry  their  old  bedclothes  with 
them,  although  ever  so  old,  under  pretence 
of  an  Act  of  the  British  Parliament." 

Captain  Stewart  goes  on  to  say  that  an  appeal 
had  been  made  to  higher  authority  but  mean- 
while ten  ships  are  detained  and  more  than  seven- 
teen hundred  people  are  in  distress. 

Such  an  attitude  of  mind  only  gave  additional 
impetus  to  emigration.  The  authorities  might 
harass  but  could  not  prohibit  the  movement  of 
people,  for  nothing  short  of  measures  reducing 
them  to  the  condition  of  serfs  bound  to  the  soil 
would  have  been  sufficient  to  stay  the  exodus. 
A  marked  increase  above  the  ordinary  volume 
occurred  from  time  to  time  owing  to  bad  harvests 
and  acute  industrial  distress.  The  famine  years 
of  1740  and  1741  gave  a  great  impetus  to  the 
movement.  It  is  estimated  that  for  several  years 
the  emigrants  from  Ulster  annually  amounted  to 
12,000. 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  199 

After  the  first  run  to  New  England  the  main 
stream  of  Scotch-Irish  emigration  set  toward 
Pennsylvania,  a  destination  frequently  men- 
tioned in  the  reports  made  to  the  Ulster  Synod 
of  ministers  demitted.  Edmund  Burke,  in  his 
Account  of  the  European  Settlements  in  Amer- 
ica published  in  1761,  says: 

"And  as  for  the  province  .  .  .  there  is  no 
part  of  British  America  in  a  more  growing 
condition.  In  some  years  more  people  have 
transported  themselves  into  Pennsylvania, 
than  into  all  the  other  settlements  together. 
In  1729,  6,208  persons  came  to  settle  here  as 
passengers  or  servants,  four-fifths  of  whom 
at  least  were  from  Ireland." 

Burke  further  mentions  Pennsylvania  as  the 

center  from  which   Scotch-Irish  occupation  of 

America  proceeded.     He  says: 

"The  number  of  white  people  in  Virginia 
is  between  sixty  and  seventy  thousand;  and 
they  are  growing  every  day  more  numerous 
by  the  migration  of  the  Irish,  who,  not  suc- 
ceeding so  well  in  Pennsylvania  as  the  more 
frugal  and  industrious  Germans,  sell  their 
lands  in  that  province  to  the  latter,  and  take 
up  new  ground  in  the  remote  counties  in  Vir- 
ginia, Maryland  and  North  Carolina.  These 
are  chiefly  Presbyterians  from  the  northern 
part  of  Ireland,  who  in  America  are  gener- 
ally called  Scotch-Irish." 

Holmes's  American  Annals,,  a  collection  of 

historical  data,  first  published  in  1829,  repeatedly 


200  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

mentions  the  large  immigration  from  the  North 
of  Ireland.  The  annalist  notes  that  in  1729  there 
arrived  in  Pennsylvania  from  Europe  6,208  per- 
sons with  the  purpose  of  settling  in  America.  Of 
these  1,155  were  designated  as  "Irish  passengers 
and  servants,"  and  it  was  further  stated  that 
there  "arrived  at  New  Castle  government  alone 
passengers  and  servants  chiefly  from  Ireland 
about  4,500." 

Among  the  entries  in  the  Annals  for  1737  is 
the  following: 

"About  this  time  multitudes  of  laborers 
and  husbandmen  in  Ireland  oppressed  by 
landlords  and  bishops,  and  unable  to  procure 
a  comfortable  subsistence  for  their  families 
embarked  for  Carolina.  The  first  colony  of 
Irish  people,  receiving  a  grant  of  land  near 
Santee  River,  formed  a  settlement,  which 
was  called  Williamsburgh  township." 

Among  the  events  of  1764  it  is  noted  that  "be- 
sides foreign  Protestants,  several  persons  emmi- 
grated  from  England  and  Scotland,  and  great 
multitudes  from  Ireland,  and  settled  in  Caro- 
lina." Two  townships,  each  containing  48,000 
acres,  had  been  laid  out  for  occupancy  by  set- 
tlers, one  named  Mecklenburg,  the  other 
Londonderry. 

Among  the  events  of  1773  it  is  noted  that 
"there  were  large  migrations  from  Ireland  and 
other  parts  of  Europe  to  America."    In  the  first 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  201 

fortnight  of  August  3,500  passengers  arrived  in 
Pennsylvania  from  Ireland.  In  the  same  month 
500  arrived  in  North  Carolina  from  Ireland.  In 
September  a  brig  arrived  at  Charleston  from 
Ireland,  with  above  120  settlers.  A  sad  reminder 
of  the  risk  of  sea  travel  in  that  period  is  contained 
in  the  announcement  that  a  Scotch  brig  that 
brought  200  passengers  to  New  York  lost  about 
100  on  the  passage.  Although  those  immigrants 
from  Ireland  are  not  designated  as  Scotch-Irish 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  generally  they  came 
from  Ulster. 

In  1760  the  exodus  to  America  seems  to  have 
almost  ceased.  The  author  of  an  Essay  on  the 
Ancient  and  Modern  State  of  Ireland  written 
in  that  year  remarks  that  in  the  region  of 
George  II. : 

"the  North  of  Ireland  began  to  wear  an 
aspect  entirely  new;  and,  from  being 
(through  want  of  industry,  business  and  til- 
lage) the  almost  exhausted  nursery  of  our 
American  plantations,  soon  became  a  popu- 
lous scene  of  improvement,  traffic,  wealth 
and  plenty,  and  is  at  this  day  a  well  planted 
district,  considerable  for  numbers  of  well 
affected  useful  and  industrious  subjects." 

In  less  than  a  decade  distress  and  discontent 
were  again  general  and  emigration  to  America 
was  resumed  on  a  large  scale.  A  note  to  Kil- 
len's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ire- 


202  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

land  computes  that  in  1773  and  the  five 
preceding  years  the  North  of  Ireland  was 
"drained  of  one-fourth  of  its  trading  cash,  and 
of  a  like  proportion  of  the  manufacturing 
people."    Killen  remarks : 

"Not  a  few  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers 
of  the  northern  province  had  now  to  struggle 
against  the  discouragements  of  a  slender  and 
decreasing  maintenance.  Some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Synod  of  Ulster  resigned  their 
pastoral  charges,  and  joined  the  stream  of 
emigration  to  America." 

The  movement  was  greatly  stimulated  by  the 
decadence  of  linen  manufacture  which  set  in 
about  1771.  The  principal  cause  assigned  for  it 
was  the  interruption  of  commerce  due  to  the  dis- 
turbed relations  with  the  American  colonies.  In- 
vestigation by  a  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  in  1774  brought  out  official  statements 
that  one-third  of  all  the  weavers  had  been  thrown 
out  of  work  and  that  not  less  than  10,000  had 
within  the  last  two  or  three  years  emigrated  to 
America. 

Arthur  Young,  the  shrewdest  observer  of  agri- 
cultural conditions  at  that  period,  made  his  Tour 
in  Ireland  in  the  years  1776  to  1779.  He  was  in 
Belfast  in  July,  1776,  and  he  notes  that  for  many 
years  emigration  from  that  port  was  at  the  rate 
of  about  2,000  annually.  In  1772  the  decline  of 
the  linen  manufacture  caused  an  increase  which 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  203 

brought  the  number  up  to  4,000  in  1773,  but  in 
1775  emigration  ceased.  In  Derry  he  noted  that 
"the  emigrations  were  very  great  from  hence,  of 
both  idle  and  industrious,  and  carried  large  sums 
with  them."  At  Lurgan  he  was  informed  that 
"if  the  war  ends  in  favor  of  the  Americans,  they 
will  go  off  in  shoals."  Young  notes  that  in  1760 
the  shipping  of  Derry  consisted  of  sixty-seven 
sail,  from  thirty  to  three  hundred  and  fifty  tons. 
For  eighteen  to  twenty  years  the  emigrants  num- 
bered 2,400  annually. 

As  a  result  of  his  investigations  Young  con- 
cluded that  emigration  was  closely  connected 
with  the  vicissitudes  of  the  linen  trade.  He  says 
that  for  forty  years  "the  passenger  trade  had 
been  a  regular  branch  of  commerce,  which  em- 
ployed several  ships  and  consisted  in  carrying 
people  to  America.  .  .  .  When  the  linen  trade 
was  low  the  passenger  trade  was  always  high." 
Young  remarks  that  the  ordinary  recourse  of 
factory  hands  thrown  out  of  employment  is  to 
enlist,  but  in  the  North  of  Ireland  the  linen 
manufacture  "is  not  confined,  as  it  ought  to  be, 
to  towns,  but  spreads  into  all  the  cabins  of  the 
country.  Being  half  farmers,  half  manufac- 
turers, they  have  too  much  property  in  cattle,  etc., 
to  enlist  when  idle ;  if  they  convert  it  into  cash  it 
will  enable  them  to  pay  their  passage  to  America, 
an  alternative  always  chosen  in  preference  to  the 
military  life." 


204  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

As  a  result  of  his  inquiry  Young  concluded : 

"The  spirit  of  emigration  in  Ireland  ap- 
pears to  be  confined  to  two  circumstances, 
the  Presbyterian  religion,  and  the  linen 
manufacture.  I  heard  of  very  few  emigrants 
except  among  manufacturers  of  that  per- 
suasion. The  Catholicks  never  went;  they 
seemed  not  only  tied  to  the  country  but  al- 
most to  the  parish  in  which  their  masters 
lived." 


Young,  although  an  unsympathetic  was  an 
acute  observer,  and  he  pointed  out  unsparingly 
the  evil  nature  of  England's  commercial  policy. 
He  drily  observed  that  "emigration  should  not, 
therefore,  be  condemned  in  States  so  ill  governed 
as  to  possess  many  people  willing  to  work,  but 
without  employment.,, 

Young's  range  of  vision  did  not  extend  be- 
yond economic  factors.  There  are  unmistakable 
indications  that  apart  from  the  decay  of  the  linen 
industry,  motive  for  emigration  was  supplied  by 
the  spirit  of  social  revolt  then  prevalent.  Inter- 
course with  America  had  become  so  close  and 
knowledge  of  conditions  there  had  become  so 
general  that  the  whole  attitude  of  popular 
thought  on  political  and  social  arrangements  had 
been  affected.  A  spirit  was  abroad  that  made 
the  old  grievances  of  rackrents  and  tithe  pay- 
ments seem  more  odious  and  intolerable.  There 
were  agrarian  disturbances  that  were  repressed 
with  severity,  but  whose  effect  in  promoting  emi- 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  205 

gration  could  not  be  repressed.  In  the  years 
preceding  the  American  Revolution  a  wave  of 
discontent  with  existing  conditions  swept  over 
not  only  Ireland  but  Scotland  as  well.  At  this 
period  there  was  a  great  migration  to  America 
from  the  western  islands  and  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland.  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson's  tour  to  the 
Hebrides  under  the  guidance  of  Boswell  was 
made  in  1773  and  Boswell's  account  of  it  makes 
frequent  reference  to  emigration.  An  episode 
of  their  stay  on  the  Isle  of  Skye  affords  a  curious 
bit  of  evidence  as  to  the  way  in  which  emigration 
to  America  had  seized  the  popular  imagination. 
Under  date  of  October  2,  1773,  Boswell  noted  in 
his  diary: 

"In  the  evening  the  company  danced  as 
usual.  We  performed,  with  much  activity, 
a  dance  which,  I  suppose,  the  emigration 
from  Skye  has  occasioned.  They  call  it 
America.  Each  of  the  couples,  after  the 
common  involutions  and  evolutions,  success- 
ively whirls  round  in  a  circle,  till  all  are  in 
motion;  and  the  dance  seems  intended  to 
show  how  emigration  catches,  till  a  whole 
neighborhood  is  set  afloat.  Mrs.  M'Kinnon 
told  me,  that  last  year  when  a  ship  sailed 
from  Portree  for  America,  the  people  on 
shore  were  almost  distracted  when  they  saw 
their  relations  go  off;  they  lay  down  on  the 
ground,  tumbled  and  tore  the  grass  with 
their  teeth.  This  year  there  was  not  a  tear 
shed.    The  people  on  shore  seemed  to  think 


206  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

that  they  would  soon  follow.    This  indiffer- 
ence is  a  mortal  sign  for  the  country." 

A  suggestion  of  the  hardships  to  which  pas- 
sengers were  then  exposed  in  the  American 
voyage  is  made  by  an  anecdote  related  by  Bos- 
well.  In  the  Isle  of  Ulva  he  met  a  Captain  Mc- 
Clure,  master  of  a  vessel  belonging  to  the  port 
of  Londonderry.    Boswell  says: 

"The  Captain  informed  us  that  he  had 
named  his  ship  the  Bonnetta  out  of  grati- 
tude to  Providence;  for  once,  when  he  was 
sailing  to  America  with  a  good  number  of 
passengers,  the  ship  in  which  he  then  sailed 
was  becalmed  for  five  weeks,  and  during 
all  that  time,  numbers  of  the  fish  Bonnetta 
swam  close  to  her  and  were  caught  for  food ; 
he  resolved  therefore,  that  the  ship  he  should 
next  get  should  be  called  the  Bonnetta." 

Long  delays  through  contrary  winds  or  calms 

frequently  occurred  in  the  days  of  dependence  on 

sails.     Robert  Witherspoon,  who  emigrated  to 

South  Carolina  with  his  father's  family  in  1734, 

left  an  account  of  early  experiences  in  which  he 

said: 

"We  went  on  shipboard  the  14th  of  Sep- 
tember, and  lay  windbound  in  the  Lough  at 
Belfast  fourteen  days.  The  second  day  of 
our  sail  my  grandmother  died,  and  was  in- 
terred in  the  raging  ocean,  which  was  an 
afflictive  sight  to  her  offspring.  We  were 
sorely  tossed  at  sea  with  storms,  which 
caused  our  ship  to  spring  a  leak :  our  pumps 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  207 

were  kept  instantly  at  work  day  and  night; 
for  many  days  our  mariners  seemed  many 
times  at  their  wits  end.  But  it  pleased  God 
to  bring  us  all  safe  to  land,  which  was  about 
the  first  of  December." 

The  case  of  "the  starved  ship"  was  famous 
among  the  New  England  settlers.  In  voyaging 
to  America  in  1740  the  provisions  ran  out,  and 
the  starving  crew  and  passengers  finally  resorted 
to  cannibalism.  Samuel  Fisher,  a  ruling  elder  of 
the  West  Parish  Church  of  Londonderry,  N.  H., 
came  out  on  that  ship,  and  had  been  picked  for 
slaughter  when  a  ship  was  met  that  gave  relief. 
Piracy  was  also  a  risk  to  be  encountered.  Among 
the  early  settlers  of  Londonderry,  N.  H.,  was  a 
Mrs.  Wilson  who  was  one  of  a  company  cap- 
tured by  pirates.  Their  captain  appears  to  have 
been  remarkably  goodnatured  for  one  of  that  oc- 
cupation. While  a  captive  Mrs.  Wilson  gave 
birth  to  a  daughter,  and  the  captain  was  kind  and 
sympathetic.  Upon  her  promise  to  name  the 
child  after  his  own  wife,  he  gave  Mrs.  Wilson  a 
silk  dress  and  other  articles,  and  allowed  the 
whole  party  of  Scotch-Irish  emigrants  to  pro- 
ceed on  their  way.  A  granddaughter  of  this 
Mrs.  Wilson  was  Mrs.  Margaret  Woodburn,  the 
maternal  grandmother  of  Horace  Greeley,  to 
whose  instruction  and  influence  he  attributed  his 
intellectual  awakening. 

Eighteenth  century  conditions  were  such  that 


208  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  hardy,  the  energetic,  the  resolute  went  to  the 
making  of  America.  Emigration  was  then  a 
sifting  process,  to  the  advantage  of  America. 
Arthur  Young,  a  thoroughly  prosaic  and  un- 
imaginative observer,  remarked:  "Men  who 
emigrate  are,  from  the  nature  of  the  circum- 
stance, the  most  active,  hardy,  daring,  bold  and 
resolute  spirits,  and  probably  the  most  mischie- 
vous also." 

Every  writer  on  Ulster  emigration  notes  its 
bearing  upon  the  American  Revolution.  Killen, 
a  Belfast  minister,  in  his  church  history  says: 
"Thousands  of  them  [the  Ulster  tenant  farmers] 
sought  a  home  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  a  few  years  afterward  appeared  in  arms 
against  the  mother  country  as  asserters  of  the 
independence  of  the  American  republic." 

Lecky,  the  historian  who  has  given  the  most 
complete  and  impartial  account  of  the  circum- 
stances of  the  emigration  from  the  English  stand- 
point, says:  "They  went  with  hearts  burning 
with  indignation,  and  in  the  War  of  Independ- 
ence they  were  almost  to  a  man  on  the  side  of 
the  insurgents.  They  supplied  some  of  the  best 
soldiers  of  Washington." 


CHAPTER  VI 

Scotch-Irish  Settlements 

At  the  time  the  stream  of  Scotch-Irish  immi- 
gration became  particularly  noticeable  in  Amer- 
ica, the  country  under  English  occupation  was 
a  narrow  strip  along  the  seaboard,  extending 
south  as  far  as  the  Spanish  province  of  Florida. 
Actual  settlement  did  not  extend  far  from  the 
coast,  and  the  interior  of  the  country  was  in  the 
possession  of  Indian  tribes  with  whom  hostilities 
occurred  checking  colonial  expansion.  At  the 
opening  of  the  eighteenth  century,  although  the 
colonies  were  firmly  established,  they  were  not 
vigorous  in  their  growth.  The  early  hopes  of 
rich  mines  and  vast  treasure,  such  as  the  Spanish 
were  reputed  to  have  found  everywhere  in 
America,  had  been  dispelled.  It  had  become 
generally  known  that  in  English  territory 
America  was  not  a  land  of  golden  adventure,  and 
that  such  gains  as  it  afforded  came  as  the  result 
of  laborious  industry.  Add  to  this  that  the  de- 
sirable lands  along  the  coast  had  been  taken  up 
and  the  movement  of  the  population  to  the  in- 
terior could  be  effected  only  by  thrusting  back 

209 


210  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  Indians,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  there  was  a 
situation  that  tended  to  check  colonial  develop- 
ment. Thomas  Hutchinson,  in  his  History  of 
Massachusetts,  written  in  this  period,  says: 

"In  1640  the  importation  of  settlers  now 
ceased.  They,  who  then  professed  to  be  able 
to  give  the  best  account,  say  that  in  298 
ships,  which  were  the  whole  number  from  the 
beginnings  of  the  colony,  there  arrived 
21,200  passengers,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, perhaps  about  4,000  families,  since 
which  more  people  have  removed  out  of  New 
England  to  other  parts  of  the  world  than 
have  come  from  other  parts  to  it,  and  the 
number  of  families  to  this  day  [1670]  in  the 
four  Governments  [of  New  England]  may 
be  supposed  to  be  less,  rather  than  more, 
than  the  natural  increase  of  4,000." 

Conditions  were  apparently  not  so  slack  in  the 
middle  and  southern  colonies,  but  in  them  also  at 
this  period  there  was  a  decline  in  colonizing 
energy.  Accurate  statistics  of  population  are 
lacking,  but  on  the  accession  of  George  I.,  in 
1714,  the  English  Board  of  Trade,  on  the  basis 
of  such  data  as  were  afforded  by  muster  rolls 
and  returns  of  taxables,  estimated  that  the  entire 
population  of  the  American  colonies,  including 
Nova  Scotia,  consisted  of  375,750  whites  and 
58,850  negroes.  This  estimate  is  the  only  one 
available  as  to  the  population  of  the  colonies  at 
the  time  Scotch-Irish  immigration  began.    That 


SCOTCH-IRISH  SETTLEMENTS  211 

immigration  not  only  gave  an  impulse  to  national 
expansion  that  has  operated  ever  since  but  it  also 
cleared  the  way  for  that  expansion  by  opening 
the  interior  of  the  country  to  occupation.  In 
the  seven  years  1714-1720  inclusive  fifty-four  s/ 
vessels  arrived  in  Boston  harbor  from  Ireland 
with  companies  of  immigrants.  Although  details 
of  arrivals  at  other  ports  are  less  minute,  it  is 
known  that  they  were  much  larger  at  the  ports 
of  the  Delaware.  The  mass  of  the  Scotch-Irish 
arrivals  everywhere  moved  on  to  the  frontier. 
They  constituted  the  border  garrisons ;  they  were 
the  explorers,  the  vanguard  of  settlement  in  the 
interior.  Their  Ulster  training  had  inured  them 
to  hostile  surroundings,  and  their  arrival  in  the 
colonies  marks  the  beginning  of  a  period  of  vigor- 
ous expansion,  the  effect  of  which  is  plainly  vis- 
ible in  the  Board  of  Trade  returns.  In  1727,  on 
the  accession  of  George  II.,  the  population  of 
the  American  colonies  was  estimated  at  502,000 
whites  and  78,000  negroes;  in  1754  the  esti- 
mated numbers  were  1,192,896  whites  and  292,- 
738  negroes. 

There  was  a  Scotch  ingredient  of  colonial 
population  from  the  earliest  times,  and  also 
Scotch-Irish,  although  not  usually  distinguish- 
able as  such.  Josselyn,  in  his  Two  Voyages  to 
New  England,  published  in  1665,  says:  "It  is 
published  in  print  that  there  are  not  less  than 


212  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN   AMERICA 

10,000  souls,  English,  Scotch  and  Irish,  in  New 
England."  The  Scotch-Irish  settlements  in  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  region  probably  had  begun  at 
this  period,  but  taking  the  earliest  distinct  men- 
tion of  Scotch-Irish  settlements  as  the  safest 
guide,  their  chronological  order  appears  to  be  as 
follows:  1.  Maryland,  1680;  2.  South  Carolina, 
1682;  3.  Pennsylvania,  1708;  4.  New  England, 
1718. 

Of  these  the  Pennsylvania  settlements  were 
the  most  numerous  and  the  most  important  in 
their  bearing  upon  American  national  develop- 
ment. Consideration  of  them  will  be  reserved 
until  after  some  account  has  been  given  of  all  the 
other  settlements. 

No  record  has  yet  been  discovered  of  the  de- 
parture from  Ireland  of  the  founders  of  the 
Maryland  settlements.  In  default  of  any  posi- 
tive information,  it  may  be  plausibly  conjectured 
that  the  settlers  formed  part  of  the  migration  to 
Barbadoes  and  Virginia  that  ran  strong  in  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  There  was 
a  close  trading  intercourse  between  the  Barba- 
does and  Virginia,  one  evidence  of  which  is  the 
fact  that  Makemie,  although  settled  in  Mary- 
land, extended  his  pastoral  care  to  Barbadoes. 
The  Scotch-Irish  settlers  in  Virginia  were  doubt- 
less among  those  non-conformists  against  whom 
the  acts  of  1642  and  1644  were  passed,  forbid- 


SCOTCH-IRISH  SETTLEMENTS  31S 

ding  any  person  to  officiate  in  a  church  who  did 
not  conform  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
Some  of  the  non-comformists  were  fined  and 
three  of  their  ministers  were  banished.  Thus 
Virginia  was  made  uncomfortable  at  a  time  when 
Lord  Baltimore  was  offering  the  large  induce- 
ments noted  in  the  preceding  chapter ;  and  hence 
there  was  an  exodus  to  Maryland  where  a  policy 
of  toleration  then  prevailed.  It  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  the  Scotch-Irish  settlements  in 
Maryland  date  from  this  period.  The  illustrious 
Polk  family  dates  from  these  settlements.  The 
founder  of  the  family  was  Robert  Polk  who  emi- 
grated from  Ulster  in  the  second  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century  and  settled  in  Somerset 
County,  Maryland.  A  grandson,  William  Polk, 
removed  from  Maryland  to  Pennsylvania.  Two 
sons  of  William  became  famous  in  North  Caro- 
lina, to  which  State  they  removed  from  Pennsyl- 
vania. One  of  them  was  Thomas  Polk,  the 
leading  man  of  Mecklenburg  County,  member  of 
the  legislature,  an  officer  of  the  militia,  chairman 
of  the  famous  Mecklenburg  convention,  and 
Colonel  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  of  North  Caro- 
lina. His  brother,  Ezekiel  Polk,  was  captain  of 
a  company  of  rangers.  Ezekiel's  grandson, 
James  Knox  Polk,  born  at  Mecklenburg,  No- 
vember 2,  1795,  was  the  eleventh  President  of 
the  United  States.     Leonidas  Polk,  Bishop  of 


214  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  also  a  dis- 
tinguished Confederate  General,  was  among  the 
many  descendants  of  the  Somerset  County  im- 
migrant that  have  achieved  distinction. 

Effective  occupation  of  the  Carolinas  did  not 
take  place  until  1665.  At  that  time  popular  in- 
terest in  colonization  had  greatly  declined  in 
England,  and  proprietors  of  American  lands  had 
to  look  elsewhere  for  settlers.  Their  main  re- 
source was  to  draw  them  from  the  other  colonies. 
New  England,  Virginia  and  Barbadoes  each  con- 
tributed to  the  population  of  the  Carolinas.  The 
most  populous  and  prosperous  of  the  early  set- 
tlements was  that  made  at  Cape  Fear,  upon  a 
tract  purchased  by  a  company  of  Barbadoes 
planters  in  August,  1663.  The  actual  settle- 
ment took  place  in  1665,  and  within  a  year  it 
numbered  800  inhabitants,  but  the  location  was 
so  unwholesome  that  eventually  the  site  was 
abandoned  and  the  remaining  settlers  removed 
to  Charleston,  where  in  1670  a  settlement  had 
been  started  with  emigrants  drawn  from  Eng- 
land and  Ireland.  This  settlement  eventually 
grew  into  the  State  of  South  Carolina. 

The  first  distinct  instance  of  emigration  from 
Ireland  to  South  Carolina  is  mentioned  in 
Chalmer's  Political  Annals,  published  in  Lon- 
don in  1780.  Referring  to  liberal  arrangements 
made  by  the  Proprietors  in  1682,  Chalmers  goes 


SCOTCH-IRISH  SETTLEMENTS  215 

on  to  say:  "Incited  by  these  attentions,  Fergu- 
son not  long  after  conducted  thither  an  emigra- 
tion from  Ireland  which  instantly  mingled  with 
the  mass  of  the  inhabitants." 

George  Chalmers,  the  author  of  this  statement, 
was  born  in  1742,  and  practiced  law  in  Maryland 
prior  to  the  Revolution,  when  he  returned  to 
England  and  became  clerk  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death.  His 
information  was  doubtless  accurate,  and  although 
he  gives  no  particulars  it  is  safe  to  infer  that 
this  Ferguson  drew  emigrants  from  Ulster. 
There  is  on  record  the  will  of  Richard  Newton, 
dated  September  9,  1692,  in  which  he  makes  a 
bequest  to  his  brother,  Marmaduke  Newton,  of 
Carrickfergus,  County  Antrim,  Ireland. 

Notwithstanding  the  early  beginning  of 
Scotch-Irish  emigration  to  South  Carolina,  it 
was  not  marked  in  extent  or  influence.  The 
sultry  climate  and  the  malarial  fevers  of  the 
swampy  lowlands  in  which  the  first  settlements 
were  made  were  peculiarly  trying  to  people  of 
Scotch  blood  and  habit.  There  was  at  one  time 
a  disposition  to  regard  the  Carolinas  as  an  asylum 
from  persecution,  but  it  was  practically  ex- 
tinguished by  the  disastrous  experience  of  the 
Scotch  colony  at  Port  Royal,  which  was  wiped 
out  of  existence  by  a  force  from  the  Spanish 
posts  in  Florida.    It  was  not  until  half  a  century 


216  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

later,  when  white  settlements  had  penetrated  to 
the  uplands,  that  emigration  from  Ulster  became 
noticeable.  In  1732,  in  response  to  a  petition 
from  James  Pringle  and  other  Irish  Protestants, 
the  Council  of  South  Carolina  granted  a  town- 
ship twenty  miles  square  to  Ulster  colonists, 
which  they  named  Williamsburgh,  in  honor  of 
William  of  Orange.  There  was  a  considerable 
movement  from  the  North  of  Ireland  to  this  new 
settlement,  and  by  the  end  of  1736  the  inhabi- 
tants were  sufficiently  numerous  to  send  to 
Ireland  for  a  minister,  the  Rev.  Robert  Heron 
coming  out  and  remaining  for  three  years. 
Among  the  Williamsburgh  settlers  were  John 
Witherspoon,  James  McClelland,  William  Syne, 
David  Allan,  William  Wilson,  Robert  Wilson, 
James  Bradley,  William  Frierson,  John  James, 
William  Hamilton,  Archibald  Hamilton,  Roger 
Gordon,  John  Porter,  John  Lemon,  David 
Pressly,  William  Pressly,  Archibald  McRae, 
James  Armstrong,  the  Erwins,  Plowdens, 
Dickeys,  Blakelys,  Dobbinses,  Stuarts  and 
McDonalds. 

When,  by  the  treaty  of  1763,  France  yielded 
to  England  all  her  possessions  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, South  Carolina  received  a  large  share  of 
the  heavy  emigration  from  Ireland  which  then  set 
in.  An  account  of  it  is  given  in  the  earliest  his- 
tory of   South  Carolina,  written  by  the  Rev. 


SCOTCH-IRISH  SETTLEMENTS  217 

Alexander  Hewatt,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman 
and  a  resident  of  Charleston.  He  went  to  Eng- 
land at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary  War 
and  published  his  history  in  1779.    In  it  he  says : 

"Besides  foreign  Protestants,  several  per- 
sons from  England  and  Scotland  resorted  to 
Carolina  after  the  peace.  But  of  all  other 
countries,  none  has  furnished  the  province 
with  so  many  inhabitants  as  Ireland.  In  the 
northern  counties  of  that  kingdom,  the  spirit 
of  emigration  seized  the  people  to  such  a 
degree,  that  it  threatened  almost  a  total  de- 
population. Such  multitudes  of  husband- 
men, laborers  and  manufacturers  flocked 
over  the  Atlantic,  that  the  landlords  began 
to  be  alarmed,  and  to  concert  ways  and 
means  for  preventing  the  growing  evil. 
Scarce  a  ship  sailed  for  any  of  the  planta- 
tions that  was  not  crowded  with  men,  women 
and  children.  But  the  bounty  allowed  new 
settlers  in  Carolina  proved  a  great  en- 
couragement, and  induced  numbers  of  these 
people,  notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the 
climate,  to  resort  to  that  province.  The 
merchants  finding  this  bounty  equivalent  to 
the  expenses  of  the  passage,  from  avaricious 
motives  pursuaded  the  people  to  embark  for 
Carolina,  and  often  crammed  such  numbers 
of  them  into  their  ships  that  they  were  in 
danger  of  being  stifled  during  the  passage, 
and  sometimes  were  landed  in  such  a  starved 
and  sickly  condition,  that  numbers  of  them 
died  before  they  left  Charleston.  .  .  . 

"Nor  were  these  the  only  sources  from 
which  Carolina  at  this  time,  derived  strength, 


218  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

and  an  increase  of  population.  For,  not- 
withstanding the  vast  extent  of  territory 
which  the  provinces  of  Virginia  and  Penn- 
sylvania contained,  yet  such  was  the  nature 
of  the  country,  that  a  scarcity  of  improvable 
lands  began  to  be  felt  in  these  colonies,  and 
poor  people  could  not  find  spots  in  them  un- 
occupied equal  to  their  expectations.  Most 
of  the  richest  valleys  in  these  more  populous 
provinces  lying  to  the  east  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  were  either  under  patent  or  occu- 
pied, and,  by  the  royal  proclamation  at  the 
Peace,  no  settlements  were  allowed  to  extend 
beyond  the  sources  of  the  rivers  which  empty 
themselves  in  the  Atlantic.  In  Carolina  the 
case  was  different,  for  there  large  tracts  of 
the  best  land  as  yet  lay  waste,  which  proved 
a  great  temptation  to  the  northern  colonists 
to  ^higrate  to  the  South.  Accordingly,  about 
this  time  above  a  thousand  families,  with 
their  effects,  in  the  space  of  one  year  resorted 
to  Carolina,  driving  their  cattle,  hogs  and 
horses  overland  before  them.  Lands  were 
allotted  to  them  on  the  frontiers,  and  most 
of  them  being  only  entitled  to  small  tracts, 
such  as  one,  two  or  three  hundred  acres,  the 
back  settlements  by  this  means  soon  became 
the  most  populous  parts  of  the  province." 

North  Carolina,  which  grew  out  of  a  settlement 
from  Virginia  on  Albemarle  River,  remained  in 
obscurity  until  1729,  when  the  inefficient  Pro- 
prietary government  came  to  an  end  and  the 
country  became  a  Crown  colony.  About  the  year 
1736  a  body  of  emigrants  from  Ulster  settled  in 


SCOTCH-IRISH  SETTLEMENTS  219 

Duplin  County,  founding  Scotch-Irish  families 
whose  progeny  is  scattered  through  the  South. 
But  in  the  main  the  Scotch-Irish  settlements  of 
the  South  and  West  were  derived  from  the  over- 
land emigration  that  had  its  main  source  in  Penn- 
sylvania. While  there  is  abundant  evidence  that 
this  was  large,  it  is  impossible  to  give  statistics 
even  approximately. 

The  classification  of  Scotch-Irish  has  never 
figured  in  official  computations  of  American 
population.  The  first  national  census  was  taken 
in  1790.  The  law  provided  for  lists  of  free  white 
males  under  sixteen  and  also  above  sixteen,  of 
white  females,  free  blacks  and  slaves.  The 
Census  Bureau  in  1909  published  an  analysis  of 
the  returns  obtained  by  the  first  census,  and  a 
chapter  was  devoted  to  "Nationality  as  Indicated 
by  Names  of  Heads  of  Families."  The  follow- 
ing was  given  as  the  proportion  of  total  popula- 
tion formed  by  each  nationality:  English,  83.5 
per  cent.;  Scotch,  6.7;  German  5.6;  Dutch,  2.0; 
Irish,  1.6;  French,  0.5;  Hebrew,  less  than  one- 
tenth  of  1  per  cent.;  all  other  0.1.  Despite  this 
show  of  statistical  precision,  a  little  consideration 
will  show  that  the  exhibits  are  fallacious  and  un- 
trustworthy. Many  Ulster  names  are  also  com- 
mon English  names.  There  is  nothing  in  such 
names  as  Boyd,  Brooks,  Brown,  Clark,  Corn- 
wall, Dunlop,  Gray,  Holmes,  Long,  Little,  Mil- 


220  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

ler,  Smith,  Young  and  others  to  suggest  that 
they  did  not  in  all  cases  belong  to  English  fami- 
lies, and  doubtless  the  English  proportion  as 
given  above  includes  many  Scotch-Irish  families. 
Names  classed  as  Scotch  or  Irish  were  probably 
mostly  those  of  Scotch-Irish  families.  There  was 
very  little  emigration  from  Ireland,  outside  of 
Ulster,  until  after  the  War  of  1812.  Mr.  James 
Mooney  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology 
in  a  paper  published  in  1913  on  racial  elements 
of  population,  said  that  "the  Irish  immigration 
to  the  American  colonies  previous  to  the  Revolu- 
tion was  mainly  of  the  alien  Scotch  and  English 
element,  known  sometimes  as  Scotch-Irish." 
The  proportions  given  in  the  Census  Bureau 
publication  are  admittedly  vague  and  conjec- 
tural, and  they  are  remote  from  known  facts. 
The  probability  is  that  the  English  proportion 
should  be  much  smaller,  and  that  the  Scotch- 
Irish,  who  are  not  included  in  the  Census 
Bureau's  classification,  should  be  much  larger 
than  the  combined  proportions  allotted  to  the 
Scotch  and  the  Irish. 


CHAPTER  VII 

On  the  New  England  Frontier 

The  early  ties  of  religious  sympathy  and  com- 
mon purpose  of  the  two  countries  were  such  that 
it  was  natural  for  Ulster  emigration  to  set 
strongly  toward  New  England.  But  when  the 
Scotch-Irish  began  to  arrive  in  Boston  in  large 
numbers,  they  were  not  entirely  welcome.  Their 
ministers  were  received  with  marked  courtesy  by 
such  leading  citizens  as  Cotton  Mather  and 
Samuel  Sewall,  but  in  general  the  large  arrivals 
of  1718  appear  to  have  been  viewed  with  anxiety. 
In  July  and  August  Scotch-Irish  arrivals  in 
Boston  numbered  between  five  and  seven  hun- 
dred. On  August  13  the  selectmen  chose  an 
agent  to  appear  in  court,  "to  move  what  he  shall 
think  proper  in  order  to  secure  this  town  from 
charges  which  may  happen  to  accrue  or  be  im- 
posed on  them  by  reason  of  the  passengers  lately 
arrived  here  from  Ireland  or  elsewhere."  In  the 
course  of  the  winter  a  number  were  warned  to 
leave  or  find  sureties  for  their  support.  If  one 
had  to  depend  upon  such  records  alone  it  would 
be  natural  to  infer  that  emigration  from  Ulster 

221 


222  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

was  throwing  paupers  upon  the  community,  but 
there  is  ample  evidence  that  such  was  not  the 
case.  The  Surveyor- General  of  Customs  at  Bos- 
ton, Thomas  Lechmere,  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
John  Winthrop  of  Connecticut,  who  requested 
him  to  get  a  miller  from  among  the  immigrants. 
John  Winthrop,  son  of  Governor  John  Win- 
throp of  Massachusetts,  acquired  an  extensive 
estate  in  Connecticut  in  1646,  at  a  place  then 
known  as  Pequot  and  later  as  New  London. 
John  Winthrop,  the  younger,  was  Governor  of 
Connecticut  in  1657-58,  and  again  in  1659-76. 
The  John  Winthrop  who  corresponded  with 
Lechmere  in  1718  was  a  grandson  of  this  John 
Winthrop  the  younger,  and  he  was  interested  in 
developing  the  family  estate  at  New  London. 
Writing  about  this  business  on  August  11,  1718, 
Lechmere  remarks: 

"Whoever  tells  you  that  servants  are 
cheaper  now  than  they  were,  it  is  a  very 
gross  mistake,  &  give  me  leave  to  tell  you 
your  informer  has  given  you  a  very  wrong 
information  about  ye  cheapness  thereof,  for 
never  were  they  dearer  than  now,  there  being 
such  demand  for  them,  &  likewise  pray  tell 
him  he  is  much  out  of  the  way  to  think  that 
these  Irish  are  servants.  They  are  generally 
men  of  estates,  &  are  come  over  hither  for 
no  other  reason  but  upon  encouragement 
sent  from  hence  upon  notice  given  that  they 
should  have  so  many  acres  of  land  given 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  223 

them  gratis  to  settle  our  frontiers  as  a  bar- 
rier against  the  Indians." 

In  another  letter  Lechmere  says:  "There  are 
none  to  be  sold;  have  all  paid  their  passages 
sterling  in  Ireland."  Nevertheless  there  were 
doubtless  some  among  them  who  had  exhausted 
their  means  in  scraping  up  their  passage  money, 
or  who  had  come  upon  agreement  to  pay  for 
their  passage  by  sale  of  their  services,  as  wras  the 
custom  of  the  times.  Shortly  after  the  arrival  of 
a  shipload  of  immigrants  the  Boston  News- 
Letter  contained  an  advertisement  offering  for 
sale,  together  with  linen  and  woolen,  "sundry 
boys'  times  by  indentures,  young  women  and  girls 
by  the  year."  This,  with  great  probability,  is 
taken  to  refer  to  some  of  the  Scotch-Irish  immi- 
grants, but  such  indigent  persons  were  compara- 
tively few^Jn^nffin^err^ The^great  mass  were  not 
adventurers,  but  were  people  of  settled  character, 
seeking  a  new  field  of  labor.  In  departing  from 
Ulster  they  broughlTiestimonials  of  their  good 
standing  in  the  places  where  they  had  lived. 
Frequent  mention  of  such  testimonials  is  made  in 
New  England  records  of  this  period.  The  usual 
style  is  exhibited  in  this  one  brought  over  by  one 
of  the  defenders  of  Londonderry : 

"The  bearer,  William  Caldwell,  his  wife, 
Sarah  Morrison,  with  his  children,  being 
designed  to  go  to  New  England  and 
America — These    are    therefore    to    testifie 


224  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

they  leave  us  without  scandal,  lived  with  us 
soberly  and  inoffensively,  and  may  be  admit- 
ted to  Church  priviledges.  Given  at  Dun- 
boe,  April  9,  1718,  by 

James  Woodside,  Jr.,  Minister." 

The  explanation  of  the  antipathy  excited  by 
Scotch-Irish  immigration  lies  not  in  the  character 
of  the  arrivals  but  in  the  character  of  the  eco- 
nomic system  of  the  community.  It  was  then  an 
ordinary  duty  of  public  authority  to  look  after 
supply  and  prices  of  food.  There  was  anxiety 
about  provision  of  grain  before  the  Scotch-Irish 
began  to  arrive,  and  the  selectmen  had  made 
purchases  on  public  account.  Before  the  ensuing 
winter  was  over  the  town  authorities  had  to  pur- 
chase grain  in  Connecticut  to  supply  the  needs  of 
the  community.  In  his  letter  of  August  11, 1718, 
Lechmere  remarked:  "These  confounded  Irish 
will  eat  us  all  up,  provisions  being  most  extrava- 
gantly dear,  &  scarce  of  all  sorts."  The  alarm 
seems  to  be  justified,  as  the  stock  of  provisions 
was  so  closely  adjusted  to  the  ordinary  needs  of 
the  community,  then  only  a  few  thousand  in 
number,  that  the  arrival  of  over  500  immigrants 
was  enough  to  excite  fear  of  famine.  Despite  the 
efforts  of  the  selectmen  to  import  grain  and  to 
moderate  prices,  provisions  became  scarce  and 
dear.  On  December  18,  1718,  the  selectmen  or- 
dered that  the  public  granaries  should  be  opened 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  225 

for  the  sale  of  Indian  corn,  not  exceeding  one 
bushel  to  each  buyer,  at  the  rate  of  five  shillings 
a  bushel.  Wheat  went  up  in  price  from  six 
shillings  to  ten  shillings  a  bushel.  The  price  of 
small  fruits  and  vegetables,  however,  showed  no 
material  advance.  Kitchen  garden  products  in 
and  about  a  country  town  are  generally  so  ample 
that  increase  of  demand  can  ordinarily  be  met  by 
more  thorough  harvesting  than  usual. 

In  carrying  out  the  design  mentioned  by  Lech- 
mere  of  sending  the  Scotch-Irish  to  the  frontiers, 
"as  a  barrier  against  the  Indians,"  arrangements 
were  made  for  a  settlement  at  Worcester.  Al- 
though only  about  fifty  miles  west  of  Boston,  it 
was  then  a  frontier  outpost.  Everywhere  in  the 
English  colonies  at  that  period  Indian  territory 
lay  so  close  to  the  coast  settlements  that  any 
movement  of  settlers  to  the  interior  was  apt  to 
produce  race  conflict.  At  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  Massachusetts  was  slackening  in 
growth  of  population  owing  to  the  desertion 
of  frontier  towns.  Acts  were  passed  prohibiting 
removals  without  leave  from  the  Governor  or 
Council;  but  nevertheless  they  went  on,  to  the 
advantage  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island, 
whose  comparative  security  from  Indian  attack 
was  a  great  attraction.  An  official  estimate  made 
in  1702  reckons  the  total  population  of  Massa- 
chusetts as  being  then  only  50,000.     It  was  a 


226  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

matter  of  importance  to  the  Massachusetts 
authorities  to  strengthen  the  frontier  towns,  and 
particularly  the  fertile  regions  of  central  Massa- 
chusetts, in  which  Worcester  is  situated.  The 
country  was  attractive  to  settlers,  but  in  1675  and 
again  in  1709  Worcester  was  abandoned  because 
of  Indian  hostilities.  The  place  was  again  oc- 
cupied in  1713,  and  at  least  five  garrison  houses 
were  erected,  one  of  them  a  block  fort.  About 
200  people  were  living  in  some  fifty  log  cabins 
when  the  Scotch-Irish  began  to  arrive.  They 
soon  became  active  and  prominent  in  the  affairs 
of  the  settlement,  whose  population  was  probably 
doubled  by  their  arrival.  It  was  not  long  before 
the  military  value  of  the  Scotch-Irish  was  drawn 
upon.  In  1722  an  Indian  war  broke  out,  and  as 
part  of  the  measures  of  defense  two  Scotch-Irish- 
men, John  Gray  and  Robert  Crawford,  were 
posted  as  scouts  on  Leicester  Hill,  west  of  the 
settlement.  In  September  of  the  same  year  a 
township  organization  was  effected,  and  that 
same  John  Gray  was  chosen  one  of  the  selectmen. 
In  1724  James  McClellan  was  chosen  to  be  town 
constable.  He  was  the  direct  ancestor  of  Gen- 
eral George  B.  McClellan. 

Numerous  families  of  the  name  of  Young  in 
western  Massachusetts  are  descended  from  John 
Young,  probably  the  oldest  immigrant  that  ever 
arrived  in  this  country.     He  was  born  in  the 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  227 

island  of  Burt,  near  Londonderry,  and  he  was 
ninety-five  when  he  landed  in  Boston.  He  lived 
in  Worcester  twelve  years  before  he  died,  June 
30, 1730,  aged  107.  His  son,  David  Young,  who 
also  was  an  old  man  when  he  landed,  lived  to  be 
ninety-four.  At  least  two  of  the  settlers  in  Wor- 
cester, Abraham  Blair  and  William  Caldwell, 
took  part  in  the  defense  of  Londonderry  in  1689, 
and  other  survivors  of  that  famous  siege  partici- 
pated in  the  Scotch-Irish  settlements  in  New 
England  at  this  period.  These  men  and  their 
heirs  were  made  free  of  taxation  by  acts  of 
the  British  Parliament,  and  their  holdings  were 
known  as  "exempt  farms"  in  New  England  until 
the  American  Revolution.  The  lands  occupied 
by  the  Scotch-Irish  at  Worcester,  like  those  of 
their  English  neighbors,  were  generally  ob- 
tained by  direct  grant  of  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts. 

As  the  frontier  was  pushed  back  and  Indian 
perils  were  removed  religious  differences  and 
probably  racial  differences  created  antipathies 
between  the  English  and  Scotch-Irish  elements 
of  Worcester,  and  these  led  to  some  migrations. 
In  1738  a  company  consisting  of  thirty-four 
families  was  organized  to  purchase  and  settle  a 
new  town,  and  this  movement  originated  Pelham, 
about  thirty  miles  west  of  Worcester.  The  prin- 
cipal motive  of  this  migration  is  indicated  by  a 


228  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

provision  of  the  contract  under  which  the  land 
was  purchased.  It  was  stipulated  that  "families 
of  good  connection  be  settled  on  the  premises 
who  shall  be  such  as  were  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Ireland  or  their  descendants,  being 
Protestants,  and  none  be  admitted  but  such  as 
bring  good  and  undeniable  credentials  or  certifi- 
cates of  their  being  persons  of  good  conversation 
and  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion." 

John  Clark,  whose  name  appears  first  upon  a 
petition  for  himself  and  fellow  signers  for  exemp- 
tion from  taxation  for  support  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  of  Worcester,  was  among  the 
first  settlers  of  the  Scotch-Irish  town  of  Colerain, 
fifty  miles  to  the  northwest  of  Worcester.  This 
settlement,  begun  about  1740,  was  participated  in 
by  the  Morrisons,  Pennells,  Herrouns,  Hender- 
sons, Cochranes,  Hunters,  Henrys,  Clarks,  Mc- 
Clellans,  McCowens,  Taggarts  and  McDowells, 
many  of  whom  had  previously  been  settlers  in 
Worcester. 

In  1741  Western  (now  Warren),  in  Worces- 
ter County,  and  Blandf  ord,  in  Hampden  County, 
were  incorporated  by  Scotch-Irish  from  Wor- 
cester. The  families  of  Blair,  Boise,  Knox, 
Carnahan,  Watson,  Wilson  and  Ferguson  were 
prominent  in  Blandford,  and  some  of  the  same 
names,  especially  the  Blairs,  together  with  Reeds 
and  Crawfords,  appear  in  the  early  records  of 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  229 

Western.  Notwithstanding  these  removals  a 
strong  Scotch-Irish  element  remained  in  Wor- 
cester, such  family  names  continuing  there  as 
McClellan,  Caldwell,  Blair,  McFarland,  Rankin, 
Gray,  Crawford,  Young,  Hamilton,  Duncan, 
Graham,  Forbush,  Kelso,  Clark,  Ferguson,  Mc- 
Clintock,  McKonkey,  Glassford  and  McGregor. 
From  the  Scotch-Irish  centers  established  in  cen- 
tral and  western  Massachusetts,  in  the  first  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  Scotch-Irish  blood 
was  diffused  throughout  western  Massachusetts. 
From  western  Massachusetts  the  Scotch-Irish 
spread  into  Vermont,  along  the  west  shore  of  the 
Connecticut  River,  forming  strong  settlements 
in  the  sections  now  comprised  within  Windsor, 
Orange  and  Caledonia  Counties,  and  also  east  of 
the  Connecticut  River  in  the  section  now  desig- 
nated as  Rockingham  County,  New  Hampshire. 
The  Worcester  settlement  was  the  fountain  head 
of  a  distribution  of  Scotch-Irish  blood  all  through 
the  western  parts  of  New  England,  and  many 
distinguished  American  families  trace  their 
ancestry  to  this  source.  Matthew  Thornton,  a 
signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  be- 
longed to  a  Worcester  family.  He  was  a  lad  of 
four  in  1718  when  his  father  landed  in  Boston. 
Professor  Asa  Gray,  the  famous  botanist,  was  a 
great-great-grandson  of  the  first  Matthew  Gray 
who  settled  in  Worcester. 


230  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

Next  to  Worcester  in  point  of  time  was  prob- 
ably the  Scotch-Irish  settlement  at  Casco  Bay, 
Maine,  then  belonging  to  Massachusetts.  A 
company  of  about  300  persons  sailed  from  Bos- 
ton in  the  autumn  of  1718  to  explore  the  coast 
northward  for  a  good  place  of  settlement  with  a 
promise  from  Governor  Shute  of  land  grants  in 
any  unoccupied  territory.  Numerous  attempts 
had  been  made  to  establish  settlements  on  the 
Maine  coast,  but  the  Indian  wars  had  been  par- 
ticularly violent  and  desolating  in  this  region, 
and  there  was  little  left  of  former  colonizing  ven- 
tures at  the  time  Scotch-Irish  emigration  began. 
The  ship  which  bore  the  first  company  appears 
to  have  been  the  brigantine  Robert,  which  had 
arrived  in  Boston  from  Belfast  on  the  fourth  of 
August,  James  Ferguson,  master.  They  sailed 
as  far  north  as  Casco  Bay,  where  the  ship  went 
into  winter  quarters.  A  town  was  already  in  ex- 
istence there,  known  as  Falmouth.  From  a  peti- 
tion sent  to  the  Government  in  Boston  by  John 
Armstrong  and  others,  it  appears  that  about 
thirty  families  landed  in  November,  1718,  and 
began  to  build  shelters  for  the  winter.  They 
asked  allotments  of  land  and  supplies  of  pro- 
visions. The  latter  request  was  backed  up  by 
a  petition  from  the  town  authorities,  desiring 
that  the  provincial  Government  should  consider 
"the  deplorable  Circumstances  of  the  said  Place 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  231 

by  reason  of  the  great  Number  of  poor  Strangers 
arrived  amongst  them  and  take  some  speedy  & 
Effectual  Care  for  their  supply."  In  response 
orders  were  issued  that  100  bushels  of  corn  meal 
should  be  forwarded.  Some  of  these  settlers 
eventually  went  to  the  Kennebec  country,  or  to 
Londonderry,  New  Hampshire,  but  enough  re- 
mained to  form  a  settlement  in  Falmouth  town- 
ship known  as  Pooporduc,  now  included  in  the 
city  of  Portland.  Among  those  who  remained 
and  founded  Portland  families  were  John  Arm- 
strong, Thomas  Bolton,  Robert  Means,  William 
Jameson,  Joshua  Gray,  William  Gyles,  Randal 
McDonald  and  Bruce  McLellan.  Among  the 
Scotch-Irish  settlers  arriving  at  a  somewhat  later 
period  was  John  Motley  from  Belfast,  from 
whom  descended  the  historian,  John  Lothrop 
Motlev. 

Andrew  and  Reuben  Gray,  sons  of  the  above- 
mentioned  Joshua  Gray,  took  part  in  the  expedi- 
tion which  Governor  Pownall  of  Massachusetts 
fitted  out  in  1759  to  capture  from  the  French  the 
mouth  of  the  Penobscot  River,  and  the  Grays 
were  in  the  guard  of  twenty  men  who  accom- 
panied the  Governor  when  he  occupied  an  aban- 
doned French  fort  and  hoisted  the  King's  colors. 
The  place  is  now  known  as  Castine,  on  the  east 
side  of  Penobscot  Bay.  A  strong  fort  was 
erected  and  settlement  began  in  this  region,  the 


232  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

two  Gray  brothers  being  among  the  first  to  take 
up  land.  Several  other  brothers  followed  them, 
and  eventually  their  old  father  and  mother  joined 
them.  The  Grays  are  now  in  large  numbers  in 
the  lower  Penobscot  country,  and  other  Scotch- 
Irish  families  abound,  such  as  the  Wears,  Orrs 
and  Doaks.  The  town  of  Belfast  now  stands  on 
the  west  shore  of  Penobscot  Bay,  opposite  Cas- 
tine,  and  up  the  river,  about  thirty  miles  north, 
is  Bangor,  the  State  capital.  Bangor  in  Ulster 
is  on  the  southern  shore  of  Belfast  Lough,  about 
twelve  miles  east  of  Belfast. 

Professor  Perry,  who  has  made  a  careful  study 
of  all  accessible  data,  thinks  it  probable  that  of 
the  company  that  sailed  up  coast  on  the  brigan- 
tine  Robert  a  larger  number  were  deposited  at 
or  near  Wiscasset  on  the  Kennebec  than  were 
left  at  Portland.  If  this  be  the  case,  the  Kenne- 
bec settlement  was  the  third  Scotch-Irish  settle- 
ment in  New  England,  antedating  that  at 
Londonderry,  N.  H.,  which  also  was  founded 
by  emigrants  belonging  to  the  company  on  the 
Robert.  Nothing  is  certainly  known  as  to  the 
extent  of  the  first  Kennebec  settlement,  or  the 
number  of  the  original  settlers.  The  population 
was  soon  augmented  by  the  arrival  of  another 
company  of  emigrants.  The  MacCallum,  James 
Law,  master,  from  Londonderry,  Ireland, 
arrived  in  Boston  on  or  about  September  6, 1718. 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  233 

The  MacCallum  was  originally  bound  for  New 
London,  Conn.,  but  having  had  a  long  passage, 
Captain  Law  put  in  to  Boston.  In  Lechmere's 
correspondence  it  is  remarked  that  the  Mac- 
Callum brought  "twenty  odd  f  amilys."  The  ar- 
rivals at  once  became  the  object  of  colonizing 
overtures.  Captain  Robert  Temple,  who  had 
been  an  officer  in  the  English  army,  had  come  to 
America  with  the  view  of  establishing  himself  as 
a  large  landed  proprietor,  a  purpose  which  natur- 
ally excited  the  interest  of  those  who  had  lands 
for  sale.  It  would  seem  that  he  was  shown  the 
Winthrop  holdings  at  New  London,  for  he  had 
recently  returned  to  Boston  from  a  trip  to  Con- 
necticut when  the  MacCallum  arrived,  and  it 
appears  from  Lechmere's  correspondence  that  at 
first  he  tried  to  induce  the  emigrants  to  settle  at 
New  London.  But  more  attractive  inducements 
were  offered  by  the  Gentlemen  Proprietors  of 
Eastern  Lands,  a  company  with  holdings  in  the 
Kennebec  country.  Writing  to  Winthrop  about 
this  competition  Lechmere  said,  "The  method 
they  go  in  with  the  Irish  is  to  sell  them  so  many 
acres  of  land  for  12  pence  an  acre  and  allow 
them  time  to  pay  it  in.  I  know  land  is  more 
valuable  with  you,  and  therefore  'twill  be  more 
difficult  to  agree  with  them." 

The  Gentlemen  Proprietors  succeeded  in  in- 
teresting Captain  Temple  himself  in  the  Maine 


234  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

lands.  Lechmere,  writing  under  date  of  Septem- 
ber 8,  1718,  tells  Winthrop  that  Temple  had  re- 
jected the  Connecticut  proposals,  and  had  made 
arrangements  by  which  the  MacCallum  would 
take  her  Scotch-Irish  passengers  to  Merrymeet- 
ing  Bay,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Androscoggin. 
These  arrangements  can  have  consumed  only  a 
few  days,  as  the  MacCallum  both  arrived  and 
cleared  at  Boston  in  the  week  September  1-8, 
1718.  Temple  became  an  active  colonizer  of  the 
Kennebec  country.  Within  two  years  he  char- 
tered five  ships  to  bring  over  families  from 
Ulster,  and  by  1720  several  hundred  families 
were  settled  on  the  Kennebec  or  the  Androscog- 
gin which  unites  with  the  Kennebec  near  its 
mouth.  The  MacCallum's  passengers  settled 
at  Merrymeeting  Bay  in  the  region  now  known 
as  Bath,  but  then  called  Cork,  or  Ireland.  Many 
of  the  settlers  brought  in  by  Temple  settled  in 
and  about  Topsham,  so  named  from  the  Devon- 
shire port  from  which  Temple  left  England  on 
his  first  voyage. 

The  Kennebec  settlements  were  made  in  such 
force  and  had  such  influential  support  that  their 
prosperity  seemed  assured;  but  Indian  wars 
broke  out  with  disastrous  results.  A  number  of 
settlements  were  abandoned,  some  of  the  people 
going  to  Londonderry,  N.  H.,  but  the  greater 
number  removed  to  Pennsylvania.    In  1722  nine 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  235 

families  belonging  to  the  Merrymeeting  Bay  set- 
tlement were  captured  by  the  Indians.  A  strik- 
ing recital  of  the  experience  of  the  settlers  is 
contained  in  the  petition  of  the  Rev.  James 
Woodside  to  the  English  Crown  in  June,  1723. 
It  sets  forth: 

"That  he  with  40  Family s,  consisting  of 
above  160  Persons,  did  in  the  year  1718  em- 
barque  on  a  ship  at  Derry  Lough  in  Ireland 
in  Order  to  erect  a  Colony  at  Casco  Bay, 
in  Your  Majesty's  Province  of  Main  in  New 
England."  * 

"That  being  arriv'd  they  made  a  settle- 
ment at  a  Place  called  by  the  Indians  Pegip- 
scot,  but  by  them  Brunswick,  within  4  miles 
from  Fort  George,  where  (after  he  had  laid 
out  a  considerable  sum  upon  a  Garrison 
House,  fortify'd  with  Palisadoes,  &  two 
large  Bastions,  had  also  made  great  Im- 
provements, &  laid  out  considerably  for  the 
Benefit  of  that  Infant  Colony)  the  Inhabi- 
tants were  surpris'd  by  the  Indians  who  in 
the  Month  of  July,  1722,  came  down  in 
great  Numbers  to  murder  your  Majesty's 
good  Subjects  there. 

"That  upon  this  Surprize  the  Inhabitants, 
naked  and  destitute  of  Provisions,  run  for 
shelter  into  your  Pet.rs  House  (which  is  still 
defended  by  his  sons)  where  they  were 
kindly  receiv'd,  provided  for,  &  protected 
from  the  rebel  Indians. 

"That  the  Sd  Indians  being  happily  pre- 
vented from  murdering  Your  Majesty's 
good  Subjects   (in  revenge  to  your  Pet.r) 


236  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

presently  kill'd  all  his  Cattel,  destroying  all 
the  Movables,  &  Provisions  they  could  come 
at,  &  as  Your  Pet.r  had  a  very  considerable 
Stock  of  Cattel  he  &  his  Family  were  great 
sufferers  thereby." 

Captain  Temple,  who  received  a  military  com- 
mission from  Governor  Shute,  remained  in  the 
country  with  many  of  the  people  he  induced  to 
settle  there,  and  in  this  region  are  now  found 
such  Scotch-Irish  names  as  McFadden,  Mc- 
Gowen,  McCoun,  Vincent,  Hamilton,  Johnston, 
Malcolm,  McClellan,  Crawford,  Graves,  Ward, 
Given,  Dunning  and  Simpson. 

After  leaving  some  of  her  company  in  Casco 
Bay  and  some  in  the  Kennebec,  the  Robert 
turned  back  to  the  Merrimac  and  ascended  that 
river  as  far  as  the  town  Haverhill.  They  did  not 
receive  a  cordial  welcome,  as  the  townspeople 
were  not  pleased  to  see  the  Irish  coming  there. 
But  the  emigrants  learned  of  a  fine  tract  of  land 
about  fifteen  miles  north  called  Nutfield,  because 
chestnut,  walnut  and  butternut  trees  were  unusu- 
ally thick  in  that  region.  A  party  under  the  lead 
of  James  McKeen,  grandfather  of  the  first 
president  of  Bowdoin  College,  visited  the  place 
and  decided  that  it  would  be  a  good  site  for  a 
settlement.  It  was  doubtless  a  joyful  decision  to 
passengers  on  the  Robert  as  they  had  passed 
the  winter  in  Maine  and  were  anxious  to  find 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  237 

some  place  to  stay.  The  settlement  at  Nutfield 
was  begun  in  April,  1719,  and  among  those  tak- 
ing part  in  it  were  James  McKeen,  John  Barnett, 
Archibald  Clendenin,  John  Mitchell,  James 
Sterrett,  James  Anderson,  Randall  Alexander, 
James  Gregg,  James  Clark,  James  Nesmith, 
Allen  Anderson,  Robert  Weir,  John  Morrison, 
Samuel  Allison,  Thomas  Steele  and  John  Stew- 
art, with  their  families.  The  settlers  at  the  time 
supposed  the  place  to  be  in  Massachusetts  but 
it  turned  out  to  be  in  southern  New  Hampshire. 
As  a  frontier  post,  it  was  exposed  to  Indian  in- 
cursions, and  two  stone  garrison  houses  were 
built  the  first  season  as  places  of  refuge.  The 
dwelling  houses  were  of  course  log  cabins,  and 
for  the  better  protection  of  the  community  they 
were  placed  in  a  definite  order  which  became 
known  as  the  Double  Range.  The  houses  were 
on  each  side  of  West  Running  brook,  on  home 
lots  thirty  rods  wide,  and  extending  back  until 
they  enclosed  sixty  acres  each.  Sawmills  were 
built  and  in  a  few  years  good  frame  houses  be- 
gan to  go  up,  the  first  one  for  the  Rev.  James 
McGregor,  and  the  second  for  John  McMurphy, 
who  bore  a  commission  as  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
issued  in  Ireland.  The  settlement  was  never  at- 
tacked by  the  Indians,  and  through  the  influence 
of  Pastor  McGregor  a  valuable  resource  was  dis- 
covered through  information  obtained  from  the 


238  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Indians.  He  was  told  of  a  place  some  nine  miles 
distant  where  fish  were  abundant.  With  the  help 
of  his  compass  the  pastor  was  able  to  mark  a 
course  to  Amoskeag  Falls,  where  the  city  of  Man- 
chester now  stands.  The  Merrimac  at  this  point 
abounded  in  salmon,  and  shad  at  some  seasons, 
and  the  stores  of  salted  fish  laid  in  by  the  settlers 
were  an  important  source  of  food  supply.  The 
original  settlers  were  soon  joined  by  others,  and 
it  appears  from  a  petition  for  incorporation  as  a 
township,  subscribed  on  September  21, 1719,  that 
the  inhabitants  then  numbered  seventy  families. 
In  June,  1722,  Nutfield  was  incorporated  as  a 
town  containing  ten  square  miles,  laid  out  so  as 
to  extend  to  the  fishing  station  at  Amoskeag 
Falls,  that  portion  becoming  known  as  Derry- 
field,  and  now  as  Manchester.  At  its  incorpora- 
tion the  town  was  entitled  Londonderry  after  the 
famous  Ulster  city  in  whose  defense  some  of  the 
settlers  had  taken  part.  Pastor  McGregor  was 
one  of  these.  He  used  to  tell  how  he  had  himself 
fired  a  gun  from  the  cathedral  tower  to  announce 
the  approach  of  the  ships  up  the  Foyle  to  relieve 
the  besieged  garrison.  After  the  death  of  Mc- 
Gregor his  pastoral  duties  were  for  a  time  dis- 
charged by  the  Rev.  Matthew  Clark,  then  seventy 
years  old,  who  came  direct  from  Ireland.  He 
wore  a  black  patch  over  the  outer  angle  of  the 
right  eye  to  cover  a  wound  that  refused  to  heal, 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  239 

received  in  one  of  the  sallies  of  the  besieged  at 
Londonderry.  When  he  died  in  January,  1735, 
at  the  age  of  76,  it  was  in  compliance  with  his 
deathbed  request  that  his  remains  were  borne  to 
the  grave  only  by  those  who  were  survivors  of 
the  Londonderry  siege. 

An  authentic  account  of  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  the  Scotch-Irish  settlers  is  preserved  in 
the  Rev.  Edward  L.  Parker's  History  of  Lon- 
donderry, The  author,  born  in  1785  in  Litch- 
field, N.  H.,  was  for  a  time  a  student  at  the 
academy  in  Londonderry,  and  in  1810  became 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  the  East 
Parish  of  Londonderry,  remaining  until  his  death 
in  1850.  Thus  he  spent  his  life  in  and  about 
Londonderry  and  was  in  the  best  possible  posi- 
tion to  acquaint  himself  with  its  history,  to  which 
he  devoted  such  painstaking  investigation  that 
he  died  before  the  final  completion  of  the  work. 
It  was  in  such  shape  that  his  son  was  soon  able  to 
prepare  it  for  publication.  The  work  itself  testi- 
fies to  its  accuracy  by  its  transparent  honesty  of 
statement.  The  following  account  is  given  of 
early  customs : 

"The  bridegroom  selected  one  of  his  inti- 
mate friends  for  the  'best  man,'  who  was  to 
officiate  as  master  of  the  ceremony,  and  the 
bride  likewise  one  of  her  companions,  as 
'best  maid.'  The  morning  of  the  marriage 
day  was  ushered  in  with  the  discharge  of 


240  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

musketry,  in  the  respective  neighborhoods  of 
the  persons  who  were  to  be  united.  This 
practice  it  seems  originated  in  Ireland,  in 
consequence  of  the  Catholics  having  been, 
after  the  Revolution,  deprived  of  the  use  of 
firearms.  The  Protestants,  proud  of  the  su- 
perior privilege  which  they  then  enjoyed, 
made  a  display  of  their  warlike  instruments 
on  all  public  occasions.  Seldom  was  a  re- 
spectable man  married  without  his  sword  by 
his  side.  At  the  appointed  hour,  the  groom 
proceeded  from  his  dwelling  with  his  select 
friends,  male  and  female ;  about  half  way  on 
their  progress  to  the  house  of  the  bride,  they 
were  met  by  her  select  male  friends ;  and,  on 
meeting,  each  company  made  choice  of  one 
of  their  number  to  'run  for  the  bottle'  to  the 
bride's  house.  The  champion  of  the  race 
who  returned  first  with  the  bottle,  gave  a 
toast,  drank  to  the  bridegroom's  health,  and, 
having  passed  round  the  bottle,  the  whole 
party  proceeded,  saluted  by  the  firing  of 
muskets  from  the  houses  they  passed,  and 
answering  these  salutes  with  pistols.  When 
arrived  at  the  bride's  residence,  the  bride- 
groom's company  were  placed  in  an  apart- 
ment by  themselves,  and  it  was  considered 
an  act  of  impoliteness  for  any  one  of  the 
bride's  company  to  intrude.  When  the  cere- 
mony was  to  commence  the  'best  man'  first 
introduced  the  bridegroom;  then,  entering 
the  bride's  apartment,  led  her  into  the  room, 
and,  placing  her  at  the  right  hand  of  her 
'intended,'  took  his  station  directly  behind, 
as  did  the  'best  maid.'  The  minister  com- 
menced the  marriage  service  with  prayer ;  on 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  241 

requesting  the  parties  to  join  hands,  each  put 
the  right  hand  behind,  when  the  glove  was 
drawn  off  by  the  best  man  and  maid.  Their 
hands  being  joined,  the  marriage  covenant 
was  addressed  to  them,  with  appropriate  re- 
marks on  the  nature  and  responsibilities  of 
the  connection  thus  formed.  Having  con- 
cluded with  another  prayer,  he  requested  the 
groom  to  salute  his  bride,  which  being  done, 
the  minister  performed  the  same  ceremony, 
and  was  immediately  followed  by  the  male 
part  of  the  company ;  the  female  in  like  man- 
ner saluted  the  bridegroom. 

"The  ceremony  being  concluded  the  whole 
company  sat  down  to  the  entertainment,  at 
which  the  best  man  and  best  maid  presided. 
Soon  after  the  entertainment,  the  room  was 
cleared  for  the  dance  and  other  amusements, 
'and  the  evening,'  remarks  our  aged  in- 
formant, kindling  at  the  recollection  of  by- 
gone scenes,  'was  spent  with  a  degree  of 
pleasure  of  which  our  modern  fashionables 
are  perfectly  ignorant.' 

"Their  funeral  observances  were  of  a 
character,  in  some  respects,  peculiar.  When 
death  entered  their  community,  and  one  of 
their  number  was  removed,  there  was  at  once 
a  cessation  of  all  labor  in  the  neighborhood. 
The  people  gathered  together  at  the  house 
of  mourning,  and  during  the  earlier  periods 
of  the  settlement,  observed  a  custom  which 
they  had  brought  with  them  from  Ireland, 
called  the  'wake,'  or  watching  with  the 
dead,  from  night  to  night,  until  the  inter- 
ment. These  night  scenes  often  exhibited  a 
mixture  of  seriousness  and  of  humor  which 


242  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

appear  incompatible.  The  Scriptures  would 
be  read,  prayer  offered,  and  words  of  coun- 
sel and  consolation  administered;  but  ere 
long,  according  to  established  usage,  the 
glass,  with  its  exhilarating  beverage,  must 
circulate  freely;  so  that,  before  the  dawn, 
the  joke  and  the  laugh,  if  not  scenes  more 
boisterous,  would  break  in  upon  the  slum- 
bers of  the  dead. 

"At  the  funeral,  whatever  might  have  been 
the  age,  the  character,  or  condition  of  the 
deceased,  the  assemblage  would  be  large. 
Every  relation,  however  distant  the  con- 
nection, must  surely  be  present,  or  it  be 
regarded  as  a  marked  neglect;  and  it  was 
expected  that  all  the  friends  and  acquain- 
tances of  the  deceased,  within  a  reasonable 
distance,  would  attend.  Although  funeral 
sermons  were  seldom  if  ever  delivered  on  the 
occasion,  yet  there  would  be  usually  as  large 
a  congregation  as  assembled  on  the  Sabbath. 
Previous  to  the  prayer,  spirit  was  handed 
around,  not  only  to  the  mourners  and  bear- 
ers, but  to  the  whole  assembly.  Again,  after 
prayer,  and  before  the  coffin  was  removed, 
the  same  was  done.  Nearly  all  would  follow 
the  body  to  the  grave,  and  usually  the 
greater  number  walked.  Processions,  from 
a  third  to  a  half  a  mile  in  length,  were  not 
unfrequent.  At  their  return,  the  comfort- 
ing draught  was  again  administered,  and 
ample  entertainment  provided.  Many  a 
family  became  embarrassed,  if  not  impover- 
ished, in  consequence  of  the  heavy  expenses 
incurred,  not  so  much  by  the  sickness  which 
preceded  the  death  of  one  of  its  members,  as 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  243 

by  the  funeral  services  as  then  observed,  and 
which  as  they  supposed  respect  for  the  dead 
required. 

"Their  diversions  and  scenes  of  social  in- 
tercourse were  of  a  character  not  the  most 
refined  and  cultured;  displaying  physical 
rather  than  intellectual  and  moral  powers, 
such  as  boxing  matches,  wrestling,  foot 
races,  and  other  athletic  exercises.  At  all 
public  gatherings,  the  'ring'  would  be  usu- 
ally formed;  and  the  combatants,  in  the 
presence  of  neighbors,  brothers,  and  even 
fathers,  would  encounter  each  other  in  close 
fight,  or  at  arms  length,  as  the  prescribed 
form  might  be;  thus  giving  and  receiving 
the  well  directed  blow,  until  the  face,  limbs, 
and  body  of  each  bore  the  marks  of  almost 
savage  brutality.  All  this  was  done,  not  in 
anger,  or  from  unkind  feeling  toward  each 
other,  but  simply  to  test  the  superiority  of 
strength  and  agility." 

Parker  could  speak  from  his  own  knowledge 

of  the   arrangements  in  the  meetinghouses   as 

they  were  still  in  force  when  his  pastorate  began. 

He  remarks: 

"The  construction  of  the  pulpit  with  its 
appendages,  in  Presbyterian  communities 
corresponded  with  their  form  of  ecclesiastical 
government.  As  you  entered  the  pulpit, 
you  first  came  to  the  deacons'  seat,  elevated 
like  the  pews,  about  six  inches  from  the  floor 
of  the  aisles,  or  passages.  In  the  deacons' 
narrow  slip  usually  sat  two  venerable  men, 
one  at  each  end.  Back  of  the  deacons'  seat 
and  elevated  ten  or  twelve  inches  higher, 


244  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

was  the  pew  of  the  ruling  elders,  larger  than 
that  of  the  deacons  and  about  square.  Back 
of  the  elders'  pew,  and  two  or  three  feet 
higher,  and  against  the  wall,  was  the  pulpit." 

The  town  grew  so  fast  that  in  1734,  only  fif- 
ten  years  after  the  first  settlement,  the  church 
records  note  700  communicants  present  at  the 
sacrament.  Londonderry  was  a  source  from 
which  Scotch-Irish  blood  was  diffused  through- 
out Rockingham,  Hillsboro,  and  Merrimack 
counties  in  New  Hampshire.  At  least  ten  dis- 
tinct settlements  were  made  by  emigrants  from 
Londonderry  during  the  quarter  of  a  century 
preceding  the  Revolution,  all  of  which  became 
important  towns.  An  emigration  spread  into 
Vermont,  joining  with  that  which  moved  north- 
ward from  the  Worcester  settlement.  Numerous 
families  moved  northward  and  westward  and 
over  the  ridge  of  the  Green  Mountains.  The 
Scotch-Irish  were  active  in  the  French  and  In- 
dian War,  and  participated  in  the  Conquest  of 
Canada  in  1759.  Major  Robert  Rogers,  com- 
mander of  three  companies  of  rangers  raised  in 
New  Hampshire  in  1756,  was  a  native  of  Lon- 
donderry and  most  of  his  men  were  from  that 
place.  John  Stark,  who  commanded  one  of  these 
companies,  was  in  1777  commander  of  the  Ameri- 
can troops  that  won  the  battle  of  Bennington. 
Robert  McGregor,  a  grandson  of  the  London- 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  245 

derry  pastor,  served  on  Stark's  staff.  Col. 
George  Reid,  who  served  throughout  the  entire 
war  of  the  Revolution  in  command  of  the  New 
Hampshire  forces,  was  a  native  of  Londonderry. 
Col.  James  Miller,  who  led  the  decisive  charge  at 
Lundy's  Lane  in  the  War  of  1812,  was  of  Lon- 
donderry stock,  although  his  people  were  settled 
at  Peterborough,  N.  H.,  at  the  time  of  his  birth 
in  1776.  He  became  Territorial  Governor  of 
Arkansas,  and  on  retiring  from  that  post  an  in- 
valid in  1823  he  was  appointed  collector  at  Salem 
and  Beverly,  Mass.,  where  he  had  as  a  subordin- 
ate Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  who  in  his  writings 
made  some  appreciative  notices  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  veteran.  Parker  mentions  that  from  Lon- 
donderry stock  came  six  Governors  of  New 
Hampshire,  nine  members  of  Congress  and  five 
justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State. 

A  decade  after  the  first  Scotch-Irish  settle- 
ments in  New  England  an  Ulster  colonization  of 
eastern  Maine  was  begun  by  the  activity  of  a 
stout  hearted  adventurer  who  had  a  romantic 
career.  David  Dunbar,  a  native  of  Ulster  who 
had  been  a  colonel  in  the  British  army  and  had 
served  in  Spain,  was  in  1728  appointed  Surveyor 
of  the  Woods.  It  was  the  policy  of  the  English 
Government  to  make  forest  reservations  for  the 
use  of  the  navy,  and  there  had  been  much  com- 
plaint about  the  way  these  reservations  had  been 


246  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

plundered.  The  attitude  of  colonial  juries  was 
such  that  it  was  practically  impossible  to  convict 
or  punish  for  such  offenses  in  Massachusetts  or 
New  Hampshire.  Dunbar  conceived  the  idea  of 
making  the  country  east  of  the  Kennebec  a  dis- 
tinct province  which  he  undertook  to  settle  from 
Protestant  Ireland.  In  1729  he  obtained  an 
order  appointing  him  Governor  of  the  Province 
of  Sagadahock,  which  was  placed  at  his  disposal 
upon  condition  that  he  should  preserve  300,000 
acres  of  the  best  pine  and  oak  for  the  use  of  the 
Crown.  With  the  aid  of  troops  sent  from  Nova 
Scotia  Dunbar  took  possession,  ignoring  the 
Massachusetts  claim  of  jurisdiction.  He  rebuilt 
the  fortification  at  Pemaquid,  naming  it  Fort 
Frederick,  and  with  it  as  the  seat  of  his  Govern- 
ment he  addressed  himself  energetically  to  the 
work  of  planting  and  settling  the  country.  His 
career  was  brief.  Jonathan  Belcher,  who  was  ap- 
pointed Governor  of  Massachusetts  in  1730, 
pressed  the  claims  of  Massachusetts  so  effectively 
that  in  1732  orders  were  issued  revoking  Dun- 
bar's powers.  Dunbar  obeyed  orders  like  a  good 
soldier.  His  enterprise  had  involved  his  finances 
so  that  on  returning  to  England  in  1737  he  was 
imprisoned  for  debt;  but  his  friends  were  able 
to  obtain  his  release.  In  1743  he  was  appointed 
Governor  of  St.  Helena.  Brief  as  was  Dunbar's 
career  in  Maine,  he  brought  in  about  150  fami- 


ON  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRONTIER  247 

lies,  some  coming  from  Massachusetts  or  New 
Hampshire,  and  some  direct  from  Ireland. 

Incidentally,  Dunbar's  enterprise  led  to  an- 
other Ulster  colonization  of  eastern  Maine. 
Samuel  Waldo,  who  was  active  in  London  as  an 
agent  of  Massachusetts  in  the  proceedings 
against  Dunbar,  was  himself  holder  of  a  grant  to 
lands  between  the  St.  George  and  the  Penobscot 
Rivers.  Impressed  by  the  vigor  and  capacity  of 
the  settlers  brought  in  by  Dunbar,  Waldo  sought 
to  get  some  of  the  same  sort  on  his  lands.  The 
first  company  consisted  of  twenty-seven  families, 
who  arrived  in  1735,  each  family  receiving  100 
acres  of  land  on  the  bank  of  the  St.  George  in 
the  present  town  of  Warren.  Among  them  were 
Alexanders,  Blairs,  Kilpatricks,  Pattersons,  Mc- 
Leans, McCrackens  and  Morrisons. 

These  successive  settlements  in  Massachusetts, 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire  were  the  original 
centers  from  which  the  Scotch-Irish  strain  spread 
through  New  England.  The  Ulster  men  amply 
fulfilled  all  that  was  expected  of  them  as  fron- 
tier barriers  for  the  protection  of  the  older  set- 
tlements. They  were  the  chief  colonizing  agency 
in  Maine,  in  which  State  the  infusion  of  Scotch- 
Irish  blood  was  greatest,  but  the  strain  was  also 
strong  in  western  Massachusetts,  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Vermont.  It  spread  into  Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island  but  is  not  so  marked  in  those 


248  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

States.  It  was  borne  in  the  current  of  emigration 
from  New  England  as  the  settlement  of  the  in- 
terior of  the  country  progressed  and  many  wes- 
tern families  of  Scotch-Irish  derivation  have 
New  England  antecedents.  The  main  stream  of 
Scotch-Irish  influence  in  the  growth  of  the  nation 
was,  however,  that  which  issued  from  the  settle- 
ments in  Pennsylvania,  in  which  the  character- 
istic institutions  of  the  race  were  better  preserved 
than  in  New  England. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

In  New  York  and  the  Jerseys 

When  the  Dutch  colony  of  New  Netherlands 
became  the  English  colony  of  New  York  by  the 
Peace  of  1674  there  was  a  movement  of  popula- 
tion thither  from  the  older  English  colonies. 
The  Rev.  John  Livingston,  whose  ineffectual  at- 
tempt to  go  to  America  on  the  Eagle  Wing  has 
been  narrated,  became  progenitor  of  an  illus- 
trious American  family  through  an  immigrant 
who  settled  in  New  York  at  this  period.  Robert 
Livingston,  born  in  1654  while  his  father  was 
pastor  of  Ancrum,  Scotland,  emigrated  to  Mass- 
achusetts in  1673.  The  next  year  he  removed  to 
New  York  and  proceeded  to  Albany,  then  a  fron- 
tier settlement  doing  a  large  trade  with  the  In- 
dians. Livingston  had  lived  several  years  in 
Holland,  while  his  father  was  a  religious  exile 
there,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  Dutch  language 
was  now  of  great  service.  He  obtained  employ- 
ment as  clerk  to  the  Board  of  Commissaries 
which  then  governed  the  Albany  district,  and 
thus  began  a  prosperous  official  career  in  the 
course  of  which  he  acquired  an  extensive  tract  of 
land  still  known  as  the  Livingston  Manor.    He 

249 


250  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

had  numerous  descendants  and  it  is  doubtful 
whether  any  other  family  in  the  Revolutionary 
period  contributed  so  many  of  its  members  to  the 
army  and  navy.  There  were  certainly  seven  and 
probably  eight  Livingstons  of  his  blood  among 
the  officers  of  General  Gates'  army  at  Saratoga, 
three  of  them  in  command  of  regiments.  Among 
his  descendants  are  William  Livingston,  Gover- 
nor of  New  Jersey  throughout  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  a  f  ramer  of  the  Constitution ;  Chancel- 
lor Livingston,  a  member  of  the  committee  that 
framed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  who 
administered  the  oath  to  Washington  as  first 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  who  as  Min- 
ister to  France  began  the  negotiations  which  re- 
sulted in  the  cession  of  Louisiana;  and  Edward 
Livingston,  United  States  Senator  from  Louis- 
iana, Secretary  of  State  under  Jackson  and  a 
jurist  of  international  celebrity. 

About  1682  a  Scotch  migration  to  East  Jersey 
set  in,  promoted  by  a  group  of  eminent  Scots 
who  had  acquired  Proprietors'  shares  in  that 
Province.  George  Scot,  of  Pitlochie,  whose 
colonizing  activity  has  been  heretofore  noted,  was 
one  of  the  movers  in  this  enterprise.  Samuel 
Smith,  the  first  historian  of  the  Province,  says: 
"There  were  very  soon  four  towns  in  the  Prov- 
ince, viz.,  Elizabeth,  Newark,  Middletown  and 
Shrewsbury:  and  these  with  the  country  round 


IN  NEW  YORK  AND  THE  JERSEYS  251 

were  in  a  few  years  plentifully  inhabited  by  the 
accession  of  the  Scotch,  of  whom  there  came  a 
great  many."  It  is  quite  probable  that  this 
Scotch  immigration  had  Ulster  ingredients,  but 
this  is  a  matter  of  inference  and  not  of  positive 
knowledge. 

It  is  not  until  the  great  wave  of  Ulster  emi- 
gration in  1718  that  Scotch-Irish  settlement  in 
New  York  and  New  Jersey  becomes  distinctly 
noticeable.  In  1720  Scotch-Irish  settlers  in  the 
vicinity  of  Goshen,  Orange  County,  New  York, 
were  numerous  enough  to  form  a  congregation. 
In  the  succeeding  decade  some  forty  families 
from  the  North  of  Ireland  settled  in  the  country 
west  of  the  Hudson  in  what  became  Orange  and 
Ulster  counties.  A  congregation  was  formed  at 
Bethlehem,  Orange  County,  and  one  also  at 
Wallkill,  Ulster  County;  and  in  1729  a  call  for 
ministerial  supply  was  sent  to  the  Philadelphia 
Synod.  These  settlements,  which  were  in  the 
valley  of  the  Wallkill  River,  were  augmented  in 
1731  by  a  body  of  emigrants  from  the  North  of 
Ireland  in  whose  number  were  Charles  Clinton 
and  his  sister,  Christiana  Clinton  Beattie.  Clin- 
ton was  the  founder  of  the  New  York  family  of 
that  name,  that  produced  two  Revolutionary  gen- 
erals and  two  of  the  early  Governors  of  New 
York.  Mrs.  Beattie  was  the  mother  of  two  noted 
Presbyterian  clergymen.    In  1742  another  com- 


252  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

pany  of  Scotch-Irish  families  arrived  in  Orange 
County,  settling  in  Monroe  Township.  In  1740 
sixteen  families  from  Ulster  made  a  settlement 
as  far  north  as  Glen  Township,  Montgomery 
County,  but  the  danger  from  Indian  attack  was 
so  great  that  the  settlement  was  eventually 
abandoned. 

A  marked  infusion  of  Scottish  blood  in  New 
York  came  through  settlements  made  in  response 
to  a  proclamation  issued  in  1735  by  the  Gover- 
nor, inviting  "loyal  Protestant  Highlanders"  to 
settle  the  lands  between  the  Hudson  and  the 
Northern  Lakes.  Attracted  by  this  offer,  Cap- 
tain Lauchlin  Campbell  of  the  Island  of  Islay 
brought  over  eighty-three  families  of  Highland- 
ers by  November,  1740,  but  his  expectations  in 
regard  to  land  grants  were  disappointed,  and 
some  of  the  people  left  the  country.  It  was  not 
until  1764,  after  Lauchlin  Campbell's  death, 
that  tardy  justice  was  done  to  these  emigrants 
by  grants  of  land  in  Washington  County.  This 
county  borders  on  western  Massachusetts,  from 
which  at  this  period  Scotch-Irish  emigration  had 
penetrated  New  York.  Scotch-Irish  settlements 
were  made  in  Salem  Township,  Washington 
County,  in  1762.  The  lands  granted  to  the  High- 
landers were  in  the  township  immediately  west 
of  Salem. 

A  strong  addition  to  this  Scotch-Irish  settle- 


IN  NEW  YORK  AND  THE  JERSEYS  253 

ment  made  in  1765  illustrates  the  motive  of  re- 
ligious freedom  that  operated  so  strongly  on 
American  colonization.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Clark 
of  Scotland  had  been  called  to  Cahans,  near 
Ballybay,  County  Monaghan,  Ireland,  as  the  re- 
sult of  a  split  in  the  Presbyterian  congregation 
there.  Clark  ministered  to  the  seceders,  and  had 
to  encounter  much  opposition.  In  1754  he  was 
arrested  through  the  agency  of  some  elders  of 
the  rival  Presbyterian  church  at  Ballybay.  He 
lay  in  Monaghan  jail  for  ten  weeks,  mean- 
while preaching  to  as  many  of  his  people  as 
could  attend.  The  charge  against  him  was 
eventually  dismissed.  In  1763  he  received  calls 
from  America  which  he  was  inclined  to  accept. 
An  emigration  movement  ran  through  his  con- 
gregation and  when  he  went  to  sail  from  Newry, 
on  May  16,  1764,  some  three  hundred  persons 
were  ready  to  go  with  him.  They  arrived  in  New 
York,  whence  some  removed  to  the  Abbeville 
district  of  South  Carolina.  The  majority  went  to 
Stillwater  on  the  Hudson,  pending  arrangements 
for  their  permanent  settlement.  At  Stillwater 
James  Harshaw,  one  of  the  elders,  died  during 
the  summer  of  1765.  From  him  descended  at 
least  ten  Presbyterian  ministers,  among  them  the 
Rev.  Dr.  William  W.  Harsha,  professor  of  sys- 
tematic theology  in  the  Presbyterian  Seminary 
of  Nebraska. 


254  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Clark  procured  a  grant  of  twelve  thousand 
acres  of  land  in  Washington  County,  New  York, 
free  of  charge  for  five  years  after  which  there 
was  to  be  paid  an  annual  rent  of  one  shilling 
an  acre.  The  congregation  removed  thither  in 
1766,  settling  at  a  place  variously  known  as 
White  Creek  or  New  Perth,  but  which  in  1786 
became  definitely  known  as  Salem.  An  interest- 
ing feature  of  this  settlement  was  that  it  was  the 
transplantation  of  a  congregation.  The  pastoral 
relation  between  Clark  and  his  people  remained 
unbroken.  There  was  little  if  any  interruption 
in  the  regular  services,  and  when  the  congrega- 
tion was  settled  in  Salem  Clark  was  pastor  of 
eight  ruling  elders  and  150  communicants  who 
had  come  with  him  from  Cahans.  The  first 
church  building  was  the  usual  log  cabin;  in  use 
only  three  years,  it  then  became  a  school  house 
and  finally,  in  1777,  its  timbers  were  used  in 
building  a  block  house  as  a  defense  against  attack 
by  the  Indians.  The  second  meeting  house,  built 
in  1770,  has  also  disappeared,  but  the  third  one, 
built  in  1797,  is  still  standing,  much  altered  and 
enlarged,  with  a  congregation  including  some 
eighty  families  of  the  original  stock.  Among 
names  connected  with  the  original  congregation 
are  Adams,  Armstrong,  Beatty,  Boyd,  Cars- 
well,  Crozier,  Cruickshank,  Graham,  Harshaw, 
Henderson,  Lytle,  Matthews,  McClelland,  Mc- 
Dougall,  McCrea,  McFarland,  McMillan,  Mc- 


IN  NEW  YORK  AND  THE  JERSEYS  255 

Murray,  McNish,  McWhorter,  Reid,  Rowan, 
Steele,  Stevenson,  Stewart,  Williams. 

Dr.  Clark  severed  his  relation  with  the  Salem 
congregation  in  1782,  owing  to  difficulties  in 
which  he  was  involved  because  he  was  in  a  way 
landlord  as  well  as  pastor.  He  had  made  him- 
self responsible  for  the  shilling  an  acre  rent  and 
in  making  collections  he  pressed  tenants  in  ar- 
rears, causing  hard  feelings  that  made  his 
position  uncomfortable.  It  is  said  that  the  con- 
gregation voted,  with  only  two  dissenting  voices, 
that  he  should  remain,  but  he  resolved  to  leave. 
He  appears  to  have  resided  at  Albany  for  several 
years  and  then  he  removed  to  the  Abbeville  dis- 
trict in  South  Carolina,  where  a  portion  of  his 
original  flock  had  settled.  He  organized  the 
Cedar  Spring  and  Long  Cane  congregations 
over  which  he  was  installed  pastor  in  1786.  The 
records  of  these  early  congregations  have  per- 
ished. Dr.  Clark  died  on  December  26,  1792, 
and  was  buried  at  Cedar  Spring. 

Washington  County,  New  York,  became  a 
strong  Scottish  centre  through  repeated  coloniza- 
tions both  from  Scotland  and  Ulster.  From 
1764  to  1774  the  township  of  Hebron,  lying 
north  of  Salem,  was  largely  granted  to  the  offi- 
cers and  men  of  Montgomery's  Highlanders, 
who  had  served  in  America  for  seven  years  and 
had  received  their  honorable  discharge.    In  1761 


256  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Cambridge  Township  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
county  became  the  scene  of  Scotch-Irish  settle- 
ment, the  emigrants  coming  probably  from 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.  The  settlement 
of  all  of  the  country  east  of  the  Hudson  was 
largely  due  to  immigration  from  New  England. 
Central  New  York  was  first  occupied  by  set- 
tlers moving  up  the  Hudson  River  valley.  Emi- 
grants from  Scotland,  with  some  from  Ulster, 
settled  in  Albany  in  such  numbers  that  in  1760 
a  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  there.  A 
Presbyterian  settlement  was  begun  in  Boston 
township,  Saratoga  County,  in  1770,  by  the 
Reverend  Eliphalet  Ball  and  some  members 
of  his  congregation  who  removed  from  Bedford, 
New  York.  Emigrants  went  to  this  settlement 
from  New  Jersey,  New  England,  Scotland  and 
Ulster.  Stillwater  Township,  in  the  same 
county,  was  settled  largely  by  Scotch-Irish  emi- 
gration from  New  England. 

In  pursuance  of  the  same  design  of  garrison- 
ing the  frontier  by  Scotch-Irish  settlements  as 
was  pursued  in  New  England,  a  tract  of  8,000 
acres  in  what  is  now  Otsego  County  was  granted 
in  1738  to  John  Lindesay  and  three  associates. 
The  grant  covered  the  present  township  of 
Cherry  Valley  in  the  upper  watershed  of  the 
Susquehanna.  Lindesay,  a  Scottish  gentleman 
of  some  fortune,  bought  out  his  associates  and 


IN  NEW  YORK  AND  THE  JERSEYS  S5T 

addressed  himself  to  the  work  of  attracting  set- 
tlers. While  in  New  York  City  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  Rev.  Samuel  Dunlop,  a  min- 
ister of  Ulster  birth,  and  pursuaded  him  to  take 
part  in  the  enterprise.  Mr.  Dunlop  visited 
Londonderry,  N.  H.,  and  induced  some  of  his 
friends  there  to  accompany  him  to  Cherry  Valley, 
where,  about  1743,  he  opened  a  classical  school 
in  his  home.  People  came  from  both  Scotland 
and  Ulster  to  settle  in  this  region.  Middlefield 
was  established  by  Scotch-Irish  families  in  1755, 
but  the  settlements  grew  slowly  because  of  their 
exposed  position  on  the  frontier.  In  1765  there 
were  about  forty  families  at  Cherry  Valley,  and 
there  were  also  some  small  settlements  in  the 
vicinity  along  the  valley  of  the  upper  Susque- 
hanna. The  fears  that  retarded  settlement  were 
sadly  justified  by  the  Cherry  Valley  massacre, 
on  October  11,  1778,  when  many  of  the  inhabi- 
tants were  killed,  others  carried  off  as  prisoners, 
and  all  the  buildings  in  the  settlement  were 
burned  in  an  attack  by  Tories  and  Indians.  It 
was  not  until  1784  that  people  began  to  return 
and  rebuild. 

Ulster  participation  in  the  settlement  of  New 
York,  although  distinctly  marked,  seems  to  have 
been  inferior  in  extent  to  that  of  Scotland,  from 
which  country  schemes  of  New  York  colonization 
were  actively  promoted.    It  seems  probable  that 


258  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

emigration  from  Ulster  to  the  interior  counties 
of  New  York  was  incidental  to  emigration  from 
Scotland,  which  usually  took  in  Ulster  ports  on 
the  way.  To  this  day  Londonderry  is  a  regular 
port  of  call  in  the  voyage  between  America  and 
Scotland.  At  one  time  it  looked  as  if  New  York 
was  about  to  become  New  Scotland.  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson,  an  Ulster  man,  belonging  to  an 
English  family  that  took  part  in  the  Plantation 
and  settled  in  County  Down,  came  to  America 
in  1738.  For  his  services  in  the  French  and  In- 
dian War  he  received  from  the  Crown  a  grant  of 
100,000  acres  north  of  the  Mohawk  River  in 
what  is  now  Fulton  County.  Sir  William  in- 
duced over  400  of  the  Highland  Clan  MacDon- 
nell  to  settle  on  his  lands,  coming  from  the 
districts  of  Glengarry,  Glenmorison,  Urquhart 
and  Strathglass.  It  was  a  complete  transplanta- 
tion, the  Highland  families  going  out  under  four 
chiefs,  the  MacDonnells  of  Aberchalder,  Leek, 
Collachie  and  Scotas.  The  settlement,  which 
was  made  in  and  about  the  present  town  of 
Gloversville,  was  after  the  feudal  pattern, 
with  tenantry  grouped  about  the  lord  of  the 
manor.  These  Highlanders  strongly  attached 
themselves  to  the  interests  of  Sir  William  John- 
son and  when  he  died  in  1774  their  allegiance 
was  transferred  to  his  son,  Sir  John  Johnson. 
When  the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out  they 


IN  NEW  YORK  AND  THE  JERSEYS  259 

followed  him  into  the  British  army,  the  majority 
of  them  serving  in  the  first  and  second  battalions 
of  the  King's  Royal  Regiment  of  New  York.  In 
recognition  of  their  loyalty  and  as  a  compen- 
sation for  their  losses  the  British  Government 
granted  them  lands  in  Canada.  They  settled  in 
districts  of  Ontario,  which  still  remain  intensely 
Gaelic.  The  Scotch  element  in  Canada  eventu- 
ally became  proportionately  larger  than  in  the 
United  States.  The  colonies  of  Highlanders 
once  established  were  augmented  by  emigration 
from  among  friends  and  neighbors  in  the  home 
country.  Nova  Scotia,  which  as  its  name  im- 
plies originated  as  a  Scotch  colony,  has  been 
even  more  retentive  of  the  folk  ways  of  old  Scot- 
land than  modern  Scotland  itself.  The  Scotch 
settlements  in  Canada  attracted  emigrants  even 
from  the  United  States.  Emigrants  from  Lon- 
donderry, N.  H.,  took  part  in  a  settlement  at 
Truro,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1760,  while  on  the  other 
hand  there  was  some  migration  from  Nova  Scotia 
to  New  England.  But  in  general  the  Canadian 
provinces  became  and  still  remain  a  favored  field 
for  Scottish  emigration  while  Ulster  has  always 
favored  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Pennsylvania — the  Scotch-Irish  Centre 

If  one  examines  the  relief  map  of  the  United 
States  issued  by  the  Geological  Survey,  it  will 
appear  that  the  leading  position  taken  by  Penn- 
sylvania in  Scotch-Irish  settlement  has  a  physi- 
cal basis.  In  the  color  scale  of  the  map  the  tint 
which  indicates  elevation  from  0  to  100  feet  is 
a  narrow  fringe  in  New  England,  but  south  of 
New  York  it  becomes  a  broad  belt,  the  greatest 
width  being  in  the  Carolinas,  where  it  averages 
about  75  miles.  During  the  period  of  coloniza- 
tion there  were  numerous  swamps  in  this  coast 
belt  of  low  land,  abounding  with  the  germs  of 
malarial  fever.  This  belt  does  not  extend  into 
Pennsylvania,  and  emigrants  arriving  in  that 
State  had  immediate  access  to  salubrious  up- 
lands. Moreover,  in  Pennsylvania  the  Appala- 
chian Range  lies  farther  from  the  coast  than  it 
does  north  o»f  Pennsylvania,  and  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century  this  meant  that  the 
French  were  not  such  close  neighbors  as  they 
were  to  New  York  and  New  England.  From 
central  Pennsylvania  broad  valleys   stretch  to 

260 


PEN^VLVANI A— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         261 

the  southwest  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Ap- 
palachians and  toward  the  south  convenient  gaps 
occur  in  the  mountain  barrier.  The  tints  on  the 
relief  map  indicating  elevation  from  100  to  1,000 
feet  broaden  from  Pennsylvania  southward  and 
narrow  from  Pennsylvania  northward.  It  was 
along  these  broad  terraces  that  emigration  first 
moved  to  the  interior  of  the  United  States,  its 
trend  being  southwest.  Kentucky  became  a 
State  in  1792;  Tennessee  in  1796;  while  Ohio, 
immediately  west  of /Perinsylvania,  did  not  be- 
come a  State  until  1803.  'It  was  owing  to  her 
situation  and  not  because  of  any  favor  or  en- 
couragement from  the  authorities  that  Pennsyl- 
vania became  the  Scotch-Irish  centre  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  chief  source  from  which 
the  race  was  diffused  through  the  South  and 
West. 

The  province  was  so  accessible  either  by  New 
York  harbor  and  across  the  narrow  width  of 
New  Jersey,  or  by  the  Delaware  Bay  and  River, 
or  by  Chesapeake  Bay  and  the  Susquehanna 
River,  that  it  is  impossible  to  determine  exactly 
where  the  first  Scotch-Irish  settlement  took 
place.  The  grant  of  the  country  west  of  the 
Delaware  River  to  William  Penn  was  made  in 
1681.  Emigrants  usually  landed  either  at  Lewes 
or  at  Newcastle  in  Delaware,  or  in  Philadelphia. 
There  were  Presbyterian  congregations  in  all 


262  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMELIA 

these  ports  before  1698.  From  any  of  them 
sections  of  Pennsylvania  are  in  easy  reach,  a 
circumstance  which  a  glance  at  the  map  makes 
plain  at  once.  The  earliest  record  that  points  to 
Scotch-Irish  settlement  relates  to  the  triangular 
projection  between  Delaware  and  Maryland  that 
now  belongs  to  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania. 
In  1683  a  tract  on  the  east  side  of  Elk  Creek, 
Cecil  County,  Maryland,  was  surveyed  for  Ed- 
win O'Dwire  and  "fifteen  other  Irishmen."  This 
tract  was  known  as  New  Munster,  which  together 
with  the  name  of  the  principal  grantee  would 
indicate  that  this  group  of  settlers  came  from 
the  South  of  Ireland.  Nevertheless,  the  New 
Munster  district  received  so  many  settlers  from 
the  North  of  Ireland  that  they  founded  two  Pres- 
byterian churches,  "Head  of  Christiana"  and 
"The  Rock."  The  church  at  the  head  of  Christ- 
iana Creek  was  organized  before  1708.  The 
Rock  church,  subsequently  known  as  East  Not- 
tingham, was  at  the  head  of  Elk  Creek.  In  the 
records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Newcastle,  May  18, 
1720,  the  following  minute  occurs: 

"A  certain  number  of  people,  lately  come 
from  Ireland,  having  settled  about  the 
branches  of  the  Elk  River,  have  by  Thomas 
Reed  and  Thomas  Caldwell,  their  commis- 
sioners, supplicated  this  Presbytery,  that, 
at  what  time  this  Presbytery  think  conven- 
ient, they  would  appoint  one  of  their  number 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         263 

to  come  and  preach  among  them,  and  then 
to  take  such  note  of  their  circumstances  and 
necessities  as  by  his  report  made  to  this 
Presbytery  at  their  next  session,  the  Presby- 
tery may  the  more  clearly  know  how  to 
countenance  their  design  of  having  the 
Gospel  settled  among  them." 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Young  was  sent  by  the  Pres- 
bytery and  made  such  a  favorable  report  as  to 
the  ability  of  the  people  to  support  a  minister 
that  the  Presbytery  voted  in  favor  of  organizing 
the  congregation  at  the  head  of  Elk. 

The  genesis  of  this  Scotch-Irish  settlement, 
while  not  definitely  known,  is  readily  explained. 
The  grant  to  Penn  overlapped  the  previous  grant 
to  Lord  Baltimore.  The  boundary  lines  between 
Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  were  not  finally  set- 
tled until  1774.  The  New  Munster  tract  was 
claimed  by  both  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania, 
but  the  Maryland  authorities  were  in  possession. 
The  opening  of  lands  for  settlement  in  that 
region  drew  Scotch-Irish  families,  among  them 
four  that  bore  the  name  of  Alexander.  John  Mc- 
Knitt  Alexander,  who  was  active  in  the  Mecklen- 
burg (N.  C.)  convention  of  1775,  was  descended 
from  one  of  these  New  Munster  settlers.  The 
Scotch-Irish  immigrants,  in  seeking  new  lands, 
moved  north  of  the  older  Maryland  settlements, 
entering  Pennsylvania.  The  early  date  at  which 
a  congregation  is  known  to  have  existed  there  is  a 


264  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

strong  indication  that  the  first  Scotch-Irish  set- 
tlement in  Pennsylvania  took  place  in  this  region, 
which  is  only  about  thirteen  miles  west  of  New- 
castle, a  port  at  which  emigrants  frequently  de- 
barked, and  which  was  originally  supposed  to  be 
in  Pennsylvania  territory.  It  was  to  this  section 
of  the  country  that  Scotch-Irish  immigration  first 
turned.  Writing  to  the  Penns  in  1724,  James 
Logan,  Secretary  of  the  Province,  said  that  the 
Ulster  emigrants  had  generally  taken  up  lands 
on  the  Maryland  line.  He  refers  to  them  as 
"bold  and  indigent  strangers,  saying  as  their  ex- 
cuse when  challenged  for  titles,  that  we  had 
solicited  for  colonists  and  they  had  come  accord- 
ingly." In  a  letter  of  November  23, 1727,  Logan 
says:  "The  Irish  settle  generally  toward  the 
Maryland  line,  where  no  lands  can  honestly  be 
sold  till  the  dispute  with  Lord  Baltimore  is 
decided." 

In  this  same  letter  Logan  gives  some  particu- 
lars that  indicate  the  great  volume  of  migration 
from  Ulster  to  Pennsylvania.  He  says:  "We 
have  from  the  North  of  Ireland  great  numbers 
yearly.  Eight  or  nine  ships  this  last  Fall  dis- 
charged at  Newcastle."  In  1729  Logan  writes: 
"It  looks  as  if  Ireland  is  to  send  all  its  inhabi- 
tants hither,  for  last  week  not  less  than  six  ships 
arrived,  and  every  day,  two  or  three  arrive  also." 
It  appears  that  from  December,  1728,  to  Decern- 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         265 

ber,  1729,  the  immigrants  numbered  6,208,  of 
whom  5,605  were  Scotch-Irish.  Later  on  the  ar- 
rivals exceeded  10,000  in  the  year.  Proud's 
History  of  Pennsylvania,  written  before  1776, 
mentions  that  in  1749  about  12,000  immigrants 
arrived  from  Germany,  and  he  adds  that  there 
are  "in  some  years  nearly  as  many  annually  from 
Ireland."  He  says  that  "Cumberland  County  is 
mostly  settled  by  the  Irish,  who  abound  through 
the  whole  province."  In  1735-1736  there  was  a 
great  rush  of  emigration  from  Ireland  through 
fear  of  restrictive  legislation.  In  1749  it  was  esti--- — y 
mated  that  the  Scotch-Irish  population  of  Penn-  ^ 
sylvania  was  one-fourth  of  the  whole,  and  in  y 
1774  Benjamin  Franklin  computed  the  propor- 
tion as  one-third  in  a  total  of  350,000. 

The  early  emigration  followed  the  river  val- 
leys. One  stream  moved  up  the  Delaware  River 
and  it  could  not  have  been  much,  if  any,  later  than 
1720  that  Scotch-Irish  settlers  began  to  arrive  in 
Bucks  County.  In  1726  there  was  quite  a  settle- 
ment of  Scotch-Irish  in  Warwick,  Warrington, 
Warminster  and  Northampton.  Among  the 
earliest  arrivals  were  the  families  of  Craig, 
Jamison,  Baird,  Stewart,  Hair,  Long,  Weir, 
Armstrong,  Gray,  Graham  and  Wallace.  A 
venerable  monument  of  this  settlement  is  Ne- 
shaminy  Church,  established  about  1726  in  War- 


266  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

wick  Township.*  The  northern  expansion  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  settlements  on  the  western  bank  of 
the  Delaware  River  is  marked  by  the  organiza- 
tion of  two  churches  in  Northampton  County  in 
1738,  one  the  East  Allen  Church  in  the  town- 
ship of  that  name,  the  other  at  Mount  Bethel. 
This  stream  of  Scotch-Irish  settlement  lay  be- 
tween the  Quaker  settlements  in  and  around 
Philadelphia  and  the  Quaker  settlements  in  West 
Jersey.  To  the  northward  there  was  great  risk 
of  Indian  incursion.  The  Gnadenhutten  mas- 
sacre took  place  in  1755  not  far  west  of  the 
Northampton  County  line. 

The  principal  field  of  Scotch-Irish  occupation 
and  settlement  was  the  valley  of  the  Susque- 
hanna. From  the  original  settlements  on  the 
Maryland  line  the  Scotch-Irish  moved  into  the 
interior  along  the  east  side  of  the  Susquehanna, 
settling  by  the  side  of  the  creeks  whose  waters 
they  used  for  their  mills.  Marks  of  these  early 
settlements  are  Upper  Octorara  Church,  organ- 
ized in  1720;  Donegal,  in  1721;  Pequa,  in  1724; 


*The  founding  of  Neshaminy  Church  has  been  dated  as  far 
back  as  1710  by  church  historians.  The  evidence  has  been  ex- 
amined by  William  W.  H.  Davis,  president  of  the  Bucks  County 
Historical  Society,  and  he  concludes  that  the  church  could  hardly 
have  been  in  existence  much  before  1726  when  William  Tennent 
became  pastor.  The  assertion  that  the  church  dates  to  1710  rests 
upon  the  fact  that  Bensalem  church,  of  which  Paulus  van  Vleck 
was  pastor  in  1710,  had  a  branch  at  Neshaminy;  but  Mr.  Davis 
holds  that  this  branch  had  no  connection  with  the  Warwick 
Township  church,  of  which  Tennent  became  pastor.  See  Davis, 
History  of  Bucks  County,  Vol.  I,  pp.  300,  302. 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         267 

Middle  Octorara,  in  1727;  Derry,  in  1729;  and 
Paxtang,  in  1729.  Thus  large  Scotch-Irish  set- 
tlements were  made  in  Chester,  Lancaster  and 
Dauphin  Counties  in  the  first  third  of  the  cen- 
tury. From  Dauphin  County  the  stream  of 
settlement  crossed  to  the  west  side  of  the  Susque- 
hanna. This  region  was  at  that  time  Indian 
country,  and  was  known  as  Kittochtinny,  a  beau- 
tiful valley  lying  between  the  Susquehanna  River 
and  the  Tuscarora  Mountains,  extending  south- 
ward into  western  Maryland  and  Virginia.  It  is 
a  natural  thoroughfare  between  the  North  and 
the  South,  a  fact  which  during  the  Civil  War 
made  it  the  scene  of  the  manoeuvres  culminating 
in  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg.  The  upper  portion, 
now  Cumberland  County,  was  the  scene  of  the 
first  settlements.  The  provincial  authorities  ac- 
quiesced in  the  Scotch-Irish  occupation  after  title 
had  been  obtained  from  the  Indians  by  a  treaty 
concluded  in  1736.  Under  date  of  1743,  Wat- 
son's Annals  contains  the  following  note: 

"The  Proprietaries,  in  consequence  of  the 
frequent  disturbances  between  the  Governor 
and  Irish  settlers,  after  the  organization  of 
York  and  Cumberland  Counties,  gave  orders 
to  their  agents  to  sell  no  lands  in  either  York 
or  Lancaster  Counties  to  the  Irish;  and  also 
to  make  advantageous  offers  of  removal  to 
the  Irish  settlers  in  Paxton  and  Swatara  and 
Donegal  townships  to  remove  to  Cumber- 
land County,  which  offers,  being  liberal, 
were  accepted  by  many." 


268  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

From  Cumberland  County  emigration  turned 
southward.  Cumberland  County  was  organized 
in  1750;  Franklin  County,  to  the  southwest,  in 
1764;  Adams  County,  to  the  southeast,  not  until 
1800.  The  main  stream  of  Scotch-Irish  emigra- 
tion to  the  interior  moved  northwest  up  the  valley 
of  the  Susquehanna  to  the  junction  with  the 
Cumberland  valley,  and  thence  moved  southwest, 
following  the  trend  of  the  mountain  ranges. 
Scotch-Irish  pioneers  penetrated  the  country 
west  of  the  mountains  at  an  early  date,  and  in 
1750  there  were  sixty-two  inhabitants  of  this  out- 
lying settlement.  Their  presence  there  was  such 
a  provocation  to  the  Indians  that  the  provincial 
authorities  compelled  them  to  remove,  and  their 
dwellings  were  destroyed.  This  withdrawal  was 
undoubtedly  wise;  even  the  Cumberland  Valley 
settlements  were  such  advanced  outposts  that 
they  suffered  severely  by  Indian  incursions  after 
Braddock's  defeat  in  1755. 

All  the  Presbyterian  congregations  organized 
in  Pennsylvania  before  1760  were  either  in  the 
valley  of  the  Delaware  or  in  the  arc  formed  by 
the  junction  of  the  Cumberland  valley  with  the 
valley  of  the  Susquehanna.  From  1766  onward 
Scotch-Irish  emigration  pressed  further  up  the 
valley  of  the  Susquehanna,  the  familiar  place 
names  now  making  their  appearance  in  the 
records.    The  congregations  of  Tyrone  and  To- 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         269 

boyne  in  Perry  County  were  organized  in  1766; 
Derry,  Mifflin  County,  in  1766.  Juniata  County 
has  a  Fermanagh  township  with  a  congregation 
organized  in  1766.  The  Scotch-Irish  settlement 
of  western  Pennsylvania  did  not  take  place  until 
after  the  stream  of  Ulster  emigration  had  reached 
the  southwest.  The  oldest  trans-AUeghany  con- 
gregations date  from  1771.  The  greater  number 
of  the  first  settlers  of  the  southwestern  counties  of 
Pennsylvania  came  from  Maryland  and  Virginia, 
over  what  was  then  known  as  Braddock's  Trail. 
Thisjfcrail  extended  from  Cumberland,  Maryland, 
to  the  valley  of  the  Youghiogheny,  crossing  the 
country  now  included  in  Somerset  and  Fayette 
counties.  At  Uniontown,  Fayette  County,  where 
there  was  a  settlement  as  early  as  1767,  there  was 
a  trail  westward  to  the  valley  of  the  Mononga- 
hela,  along  which  settlers  moved  into  Greene  and 
Washington  Counties.  There  was  another  trail, 
farther  north,  from  Fort  Bedford  in  what  is  now 
Bedford  County  to  Fort  Ligonier,  and  thence 
northwesterly  to  Fort  Pitt.  This  was  known  as 
General  Forbes's  Route.  This  trail  traversed 
Westmoreland  County,  and  many  Scotch-Irish 
families  settled  in  this  region.  Emigration  was 
so  heavy  that  the  organization  of  counties  made 
rapid  progress,  the  most  remote  of  all,  Greene 
County,  dating  from  February  9,  1796,  at  which 
time  some  of  the  present  counties  in  the  eastern 


270  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

section  of  the  State  were  as  yet  unorganized.  It 
is  a  general  rule  that  outside  of  the  original 
counties  the  oldest  counties  lie  along  the  track 
of  Scotch-Irish  emigration. 

A  letter  has  been  preserved  written  by  Robert 
Parke,  in  1725,  to  his  sister  in  Ireland,  giving  an 
account  of  the  conditions  which  settlers  then  en- 
countered. He  was  living  in  what  is  now  Dela- 
ware County,  west  of  Philadelphia.  His  sister 
had  written  to  him  that  report  had  reached  Ire- 
land that  emigrants  thence  to  Pennsylvania  were 
dissatisfied.  This  prompted  him  to  go  into  de- 
tails.   He  declares  it  is : 

"The  best  country  for  working  folk  & 
tradesmen  of  any  in  the  world.  .  .  .  Land  is 
of  all  Prices,  Even  from  ten  Pounds  to  one 
hundred  Pounds  a  hundred,  according  to  the 
goodness  or  else  the  situation  thereof,  & 
Grows  dearer  every  year  by  Reason  of  Vast 
Quantities  of  People  that  come  here  yearly 
from  Several  Ports  of  the  world." 

He  mentions  that  the  rate  for  passage  between 
Philadelphia  and  Ireland  is  nine  pounds.  Sup- 
plies are  plentiful,  the  market  price  for  beef,  pork 
or  mutton  being  two  and  one-half  pence  a  pound. 
The  country  abounds  with  fruit. 

"As  for  chestnuts,  wallnuts,  &  hasel  nuts, 
strawberrys,  bilberrys,  &  mulberrys,  they 
grow  wild  in  the  woods  and  fields  in  Vast 
Quantities.  ...  A  Reaper  has  two  shills.  & 
3  pence  a  day  a  mower  has  2  shills.  &  6  pence 
&  a  pint  of  Rum,  beside  meat  &  drink  of  the 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         271 

best;  for  no  workman  works  without  their 
victuals  in  the  bargain  throughout  the  Coun- 
try. A  Laboring  man  has  18  or  20  pence  a 
day  in  winter." 

He  advises  his  sister  to  bring  plenty  of  clothes, 
shoes,  stockings  and  hats,  for  such  things  are 
dear.  Stockings  cost  four  shillings  and  a  pair  of 
shoes,  seven  shillings. 

"A  saddle  that  will  cost  18  or  20  Shills.  in 
Ireland  will  cost  here  50  Shills.  or  3  pounds 
&  not  so  good  neither." 

The  writer  remarks  that  notwithstanding  high 
prices  for  manufactured  articles,  "a  man  will 
Sooner  Earn  a  suit  of  Cloths  here  than  in  Ire- 
land, by  Reason  workmen's  Labour  is  so  dear." 

The  reference  to  the  increasing  price  of  land 
of  course  applies  chiefly  to  the  region  between 
the  Delaware  and  the  Susquehanna  first  opened 
to  settlement.  Scotch-Irish  immigration  flowed 
around  the  Quaker  settlements  and  poured  into 
the  interior  with  a  force  that  annoyed  provincial 
authorities.  Writing  in  1730,  Secretary  Logan 
complains  that  the  Scotch-Irish  in  an  "audacious 
and  disorderly  manner"  settled  on  the  Conestoga 
Manor,  a  tract  of  15,000  acres  reserved  by  the 
Penns  for  themselves.  Logan  says  the  settlers 
alleged  that  it  "was  against  the  laws  of  God  and 
nature,  that  so  much  land  should  be  idle  while  so 
many  Christians  wanted  it  to  labor  on  and  to 
raise  their  bread." 


272  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

It  was,  however,  Logan  himself  who  introduced 
them  into  that  country,  which  took  its  name  from 
the  Susquehannock  town  of  Conestoga,  lying 
northwest  of  the  creek  of  the  same  name.  The 
title  of  the  Indians  was  extinguished  by  the  treaty 
concluded  by  Penn  in  1718,  but  Indian  towns 
were  still  so  thick  along  the  valley  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna that  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  use 
the  Scotch-Irish  as  a  frontier  garrison.  In  a 
letter  dated  November  18,  1729,  Logan  says: 

"About  that  time  [1720]  considerable 
numbers  of  good,  sober  people  came  in  from 
Ireland,  who  wanted  to  be  settled.  At  the 
same  time,  also,  it  happened  that  we  were 
under  some  apprehensions  from  ye  Northern 
Indians.  ...  I  therefore  thought  it  might 
be  prudent  to  plant  a  settlement  of  such  men 
as  those  who  formerly  had  so  bravely  de- 
fended Londonderry  and  Inniskillen,  as  a 
frontier,  in  case  of  any  disturbance.  Ac- 
cordingly, ye  township  of  Donegal  was  set- 
tled, some  few  by  warrants  at  ye  certain 
price  of  10s.  per  hundred  [acres]  but  more 
so  without  any.  These  people,  however,  if 
kindly  used  will,  I  believe,  be  orderly,  as  they 
have  hitherto  been,  and  easily  dealt  with. 
They  will  also,  I  expect,  be  a  leading  ex- 
ample to  others." 

It  was  the  policy  of  Penn  and  his  associates  to 
make  large  reservations  for  themselves.  Penn 
sold  nearly  300,000  acres  to  persons  in  England 
who  had  never  seen  the  land  but  who  acquired  it 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         273 

with  a  view  to  its  prospective  value.  If  their 
desires  had  been  gratified  there  might  have  de- 
veloped in  Pennsylvania  a  tenant  system  with 
absentee  landlords  like  that  from  which  Ireland 
is  now  extricating  herself.  The  chief  instrument 
by  which  this  system  was  frustrated  appears  to 
have  been  the  Scotch-Irish.  As  the  available 
lands  in  Donegal  Township  were  taken  up  these 
people  spread  into  the  manor,  and  the  Proprie- 
tors had  to  make  terms  with  them. 

Logan's  successor,  Richard  Peters,  had  a  simi- 
lar experience  in  what  is  now  Adams  County. 
The  Penns  had  reserved  for  themselves  a  tract  of 
some  40,000  acres  including  the  site  of  Gettys- 
burg and  the  land  southward  to  the  Maryland 
line.  Scotch-Irish  emigrants  settled  in  this  coun- 
try, and  in  1743  Peters  undertook  to  dispossess 
them.  Seventy  of  the  settlers  confronted  Peters, 
who  had  with  him  a  sheriff  and  a  magistrate,  and 
strongly  protested.  Peters  had  brought  survey- 
ors to  plat  the  region  but  the  settlers  would  not 
allow  them  to  proceed.  A  number  of  indictments 
were  brought,  but  in  the  end  the  cases  were  com- 
promised, the  Scotch-Irish  settlers  being  left  in 
possession  of  their  holdings  with  titles  from  Penn 
for  a  nominal  consideration. 

The  Proprietors,  while  thus  reserving  to  them- 
selves large  manors,  and  quite  willing  to  use  the 
Scotch-Irish  to  ward  off  Indian  incursions,  were 


274  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

unwilling  to  help  bear  the  public  burdens.  This 
was  a  chronic  issue  between  the  Governor  and  the 
Assembly,  the  Governor  importuning  the  As- 
sembly to  lay  taxes  for  the  public  defense,  and 
yet  rejecting  all  bills  that  did  not  exempt 
the  Proprietary  estates.  In  his  Autobiography 
Benjamin  Franklin  mentions  a  bill  which  set 
forth  "that  all  estates,  real  and  personal,  were  to 
be  taxed;  those  of  the  Proprietaries  not  ex- 
cepted." The  Governor  agreed  to  approve  the 
bill,  with  the  change  of  only  a  single  word.  His 
amendment  was  that  "only"  should  be  sustituted 
for  "not."  Franklin  says  that  the  account  of  these 
proceedings,  transmitted  to  England,  "raised  a 
clamor  against  the  Proprietaries  for  their  mean- 
ness and  injustice  in  giving  their  Governor  such 
instructions ;  some  going  so  far  as  to  say,  that,  by 
obstructing  the  defense  of  their  province,  they 
forfeited  their  right  to  it." 

That  was  a  view  of  the  case  upon  which  the 
Scotch-Irish  were  inclined  to  act.  It  is  noted  as 
a  racial  characteristic  that  they  were  opposed  to 
paying  any  rent,  however  small.  This  aversion 
is  amply  explained  by  their  experience  in  Ulster, 
where  rents  had  been  raised  after  they  had  set- 
tled the  country  and  made  the  lands  valuable  by 
their  industry. 

In  habits  and  mode  of  living  there  was  little 
to  distinguish  the  Scotch-Irish  from  other  set- 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH   CENTRE         275 

tiers,  except  their  attachment  to  Presbyterianism. 
There  were  some  Scotch-Irish  among  the  Qua- 
kers, James  Logan  himself  was  one  of  these, 
but  the  proportion  was  very  small.  Many  of  the 
Irish  Quakers  who  emigrated  to  Pennsylvania 
were  natives  of  England  who  had  lived  only  a  few 
years  in  Ireland.  The  Scotch-Irish  who  settled 
in  America  had  to  adapt  their  ways  of  life  to  the 
new  conditions.  Their  style  of  dress  was  that 
which  was  common  among  the  backwoodsmen, 
and  in  general  they  fell  into  the  folkways  of 
the  frontier.  Particular  information  about  their 
manners  and  customs  is  meagre.  Journals  kept 
by  pioneer  ministers  have  been  preserved,  but 
they  rarely  contain  any  descriptive  matter.  In 
the  Diary  of  the  Rev.  David  McClure  there  is 
an  entry  under  date  of  October  17,  1772,  when 
he  was  in  the  Youghiogheny  region : 

"Attended  a  marriage,  where  the  guests 
were  all  Virginians.  It  was  a  scene  of  wild 
and  confused  merriment.  .  .  .  The  manners 
of  the  people  of  Virginia,  who  have  removed 
into  these  parts,  are  different  from  those  of 
the  Presbyterians  and  Germans.  They  are 
much  addicted  to  drinking  parties,  gam- 
bling, horseracing  and  fighting.  They  are 
hospitable  and  prodigal." 

These  Virginia  customs  have  been  sometimes 

exhibited  as   Scotch-Irish.     An  account  which 

has  been  drawn  upon  for  that  purpose  is  one 

written  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Doddridge,  whose 


276  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

father  settled  in  Washington  County  in  1773. 
His  Notes  which  were  prepared  for  publication 
in  1824  give  a  vivid  and  authentic  account  of 
pioneer  society.  Mr.  Fisher,  in  his  Making  of 
Pennsylvania,  refers  to  it  as  "the  best  descrip- 
tion we  have  of  the  colonial  Scotch-Irish."  But 
Doddridge  did  not  describe  the  Scotch-Irish. 
The  people  with  whom  he  was  reared  came  from 
Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  he  expressly  dis- 
claims any  particular  knowledge  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  settlers.    He  says: 

"With  the  descendants  of  the  Irish  I  had 
but  little  acquaintance,  although  I  lived 
near  them.  At  an  early  period  they  were 
comprehended  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  were,  therefore,  more  reserved  in  their 
deportment  than  their  frontier  neighbors, 
and  from  their  situation,  being  less  exposed 
to  the  Indian  warfare,  took  less  part  in  that 
war." 

The  reference  is  to  the  outbreak  of  Indian  hos- 
tilities in  1774,  known  as  Dunmore's  War. 
Doddridge  attributes  to  the  Presbyterians  the 
introducing  of  religious  worship  and  the  found- 
ing of  educational  institutions  in  the  western 
country.  There  is  no  denominational  bias  in 
his  testimony,  as  he  was  reared  in  the  Methodist 
Church,  entered  its  ministry  and  eventually  be- 
came an  Episcopal  clergyman.  Writing  to 
Bishop  White  in  1818,  to  give  an  account  of  re- 
ligious conditions,  Doddridge  declared: 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         277 

"To  the  Presbyterians  alone  we  are  in- 
debted for  almost  the  whole  of  our  litera- 
ture. They  began  their  labors  at  an  early 
period  of  the  settlement  of  the  country, 
and  have  extended  their  ecclesiastical  and 
educational  establishments  so  as  to  keep 
pace  with  the  extension  of  our  population; 
with  a  Godly  care  which  does  them  honor." 

Doddridge  was  educated  at  a  Presbyterian 
institution,  Jefferson  College,  at  Canonsburg, 
Pa.,  and  he  never  forgot  his  indebtedness  to 
it.  The  account  he  gives  of  frontier  conditions 
doubtless  describes  dress,  home  crafts  and  cus- 
toms which  the  Scotch-Irish  adopted  in  common 
with  other  settlers.  They  may  have  made  some 
contribution  to  the  stock,  a  possible  allusion  to 
which  is  Doddridge's  mention  that  among  the 
dances  was  one  called  the  "Irish  trot."  In  gen- 
eral frontier  customs  reflected  frontier  condi- 
tions. The  dress  of  the  men  showed  the  influence 
of  Indian  example.  In  colonial  times  this 
style  of  dress  prevailed  throughout  the  interior. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  the  frontier  was 
for  a  long  period  close  to  the  coast.  There  were 
Indian  camps  even  in  Bucks  County,  the  oldest 
section  under  European  occupation.  Dodd- 
ridge's account,  although  made  from  observa- 
tions in  western  Pennsylvania  in  the  last  quarter 
of  the  century,  may  be  taken  as  characteristic  of 
frontier  conditions  everywhere  before  the  growth 


278  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN   AMERICA 

of  factories  and  the  construction  of  railroads 
transformed  living  conditions.     He  says: 

"The  hunting  shirt  was  universally  worn. 
This  was  a  kind  of  loose  frock,  reaching 
half  way  down  the  thighs,  with  long  sleeves, 
open  before,  and  so  wide  as  to  lap  over  a 
foot  or  more  when  belted.  The  cape  was 
large  and  sometimes  handsomely  fringed 
with  a  ravelled  piece  of  cloth  of  a  different 
color  from  that  of  the  hunting  shirt  itself. 
The  bosom  of  this  dress  served  as  a  wallet  to 
hold  a  chunk  of  bread,  cakes,  jerk,  tow  for 
wiping  the  barrel  of  the  rifle,  or  any  other 
necessary  for  the  hunter  or  warrior.  The 
belt,  which  was  always  tied  behind,  answered 
several  purposes  besides  that  of  holding  the 
dress  together.  In  cold  weather  the  mittens, 
and  sometimes  the  bullet  bag,  occupied  the 
front  part  of  it.  To  the  right  side  was  sus- 
pended the  tomahawk,  and  to  the  left  the 
scalping  knife  in  its  leathern  sheath.  The 
hunting  shirt  was  generally  made  of  linsey, 
sometimes  of  coarse  linen,  and  a  few  of 
dressed  deerskins.  These  last  were  very  cold 
and  uncomfortable  in  wet  weather.  The 
shirt  and  jacket  were  of  the  common  fashion. 
A  pair  of  drawers,  or  breeches  and  leggins, 
were  the  dress  of  the  thighs  and  legs ;  a  pair 
of  moccasons  answered  for  the  feet  much 
better  than  shoes.  They  were  made  of 
dressed  deerskin.  They  were  mostly  made 
of  a  single  piece  with  a  gathering  seam  along 
the  top  of  the  foot,  and  another  along  the 
bottom  of  the  heel,  without  gathers  as  high 
as  the  ankle  joint  or  a  little  higher.    Flaps 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         279 

were  left  on  each  side  to  reach  some  distance 
up  the  legs.  These  were  nicely  adapted  to 
the  ankles  and  lower  part  of  the  leg  by 
thongs  of  deerskin,  so  that  no  dust,  gravel 
or  snow  could  get  within  the  moccason. 

"The  moccasons  in  ordinary  use  cost  but 
a  few  hours  labor  to  make  them.  This  was 
done  by  an  instrument  denominated  a  moc- 
cason awl,  which  was  made  from  the  back 
spring  of  an  old  clasp  knife.  This  awl  with 
its  buck's  horn  handle  was  an  appendage  of 
every  shot  pouch  strap,  together  with  a  roll 
of  buckskin  for  mending  the  moccasons. 
This  was  the  labor  of  almost  every  evening. 
They  were  sewed  together  and  patched  with 
deerskin  thongs,  or  whangs,  as  they  were 
commonly  called.  In  cold  weather  the  moc- 
casons were  well  stuffed  with  deers'  hair  or 
dry  leaves,  so  as  to  keep  the  feet  comfortably 
warm ;  but  in  wet  weather  it  was  usually  said 
that  wearing  them  was  'a  decent  way  of 
going  barefooted,'  and  such  was  the  fact, 
owing  to  the  spongy  texture  of  the  leather 
of  which  they  were  made. 

"The  women  usually  went  barefooted  in 
warm  weather.  Instead  of  the  toilet,  they 
had  to  handle  the  distaff  or  shuttle,  the 
sickle  or  weeding  hoe,  contented  if  they 
could  obtain  their  linsey  clothing  and  cover 
their  heads  with  a  sunbonnet  made  of  six  or 
seven  hundred  linen.  The  coats  and  bed- 
gowns of  the  women,  as  well  as  the  hunting 
shirts  of  the  men,  were  hung  in  full  display 
on  wooden  pegs  round  the  walls  of  their 
cabins,  so  while  they  answered  in  some  de- 
gree the  place  of  paper  hangings  or  tapes- 


280  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

tries,  they  announced  to  the  stranger  as  well 
as  neighbor,  the  wealth  or  poverty  of  the 
family  in  the  articles  of  clothing. 

"The  fort  consisted  of  cabins,  block 
houses  and  stockades.  A  range  of  cabins 
commonly  formed  one  side  at  least  of  the 
fort.  Divisions  or  partitions  of  logs  sepa- 
rated the  cabins  from  each  other.  The  walls 
on  the  outside  were  ten  or  twelve  feet  high, 
the  slope  of  the  roof  being  turned  wholly 
inward.  A  very  few  of  these  cabins  had 
puncheon  floors;  the  greater  part  were 
earthen.  The  block  houses  were  built  at  the 
angles  of  the  fort.  They  projected  about 
two  feet  beyond  the  outer  walls  of  the  cabins 
and  stockades.  Their  upper  stories  were 
about  eighteen  inches  every  way  larger  in  di- 
mensions than  the  under  one,  leaving  an 
opening  at  the  commencement  of  the  second 
story  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  making  a 
lodgment  under  the  walls.  In  some  forts, 
instead  of  block  houses,  the  angles  of  the  fort 
were  furnished  with  bastions.  A  large  fold- 
ing gate  made  of  thick  slabs,  nearest  the 
spring,  closed  the  fort.  The  stockades,  bas- 
tions, cabins  and  blockhouse  walls  were  fur- 
nished with  portholes  at  proper  heights  and 
distances.  .  .  .  The  whole  of  this  work  was 
made  without  the  aid  of  a  single  nail  or 
spike  of  iron,  and  for  this  reason — such 
things  were  not  to  be  had.  In  some  places 
less  exposed,  a  single  blockhouse,  with  a 
cabin  or  two,  constituted  the  whole  fort. 
Such  places  of  refuge  may  appear  very 
trifling  to  those  who  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  seeing  the  formidable  military  garrisons 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         281 

of  Europe  and  America ;  but  they  answered 
the  purpose,  as  the  Indians  had  no  artillery. 
They  seldom  attacked,  and  scarcely  ever 
took  one  of  them." 

The  settlers  were  naturally  loath  to  leave  their 

own  cabins,  abandoning  their  live  stock  and  other 

possessions,  until  absolutely  compelled  to  do  so, 

and  usually  they  did  not  repair  to  the  fort  until 

actual  bloodshed  showed  that  the  Indians  were 

on  the  ground.    Doddridge  gives  a  vivid  account 

of  his  own  experience.    He  says : 

"I  well  remember  that,  when  a  little  boy, 
the  family  was  sometimes  waked  up  in  the 
dead  of  night,  by  an  express  with  a  report 
that  the  Indians  were  at  hand.  The  express 
came  softly  to  the  door,  or  back  window,  and 
by  a  gentle  tapping  waked  the  family.  This 
was  easily  done,  as  an  habitual  fear  made  us 
ever  watchful  and  sensible  to  the  slightest 
alarm.  The  whole  family  were  instantly  in 
motion.  My  father  seized  his  gun  and  other 
implements  of  war.  My  stepmother  waked 
up  and  dressed  the  children  as  well  as  she 
could,  and  being  myself  the  oldest  of  the 
children,  I  had  to  take  my  share  of  the  bur- 
dens to  be  carried  to  the  fort.  There  was  no 
possibility  of  getting  a  horse  in  the  night  to 
aid  us  in  removing  to  the  fort.  Besides  the 
little  children,  we  caught  up  what  articles 
of  clothing  and  provision  we  could  get  hold 
of  in  the  dark,  for  we  durst  not  light  a  candle 
or  even  stir  the  fire.  All  this  was  done  with 
the  utmost  dispatch,  and  the  silence  of  death. 
The  greatest  care  was  taken  not  to  awaken 


282  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  youngest  child.  To  the  rest  it  was 
enough  to  say  Indian  and  not  a  whimper 
was  heard  afterward.  Thus  it  often  hap- 
pened that  the  whole  number  of  families  be- 
longing to  a  fort  who  were  in  the  evening  at 
their  homes,  were  all  in  their  little  fortress 
before  the  dawn  of  the  next  morning.  In 
the  course  of  the  succeeding  day,  their  house- 
hold furniture  was  brought  in  by  parties  of 
the  men  under  arms." 

Doddridge's  account  of  the  domestic  crafts  of 
his  region  is  doubtless  applicable  to  all  the  back- 
woods settlements.  It  depicts  conditions  that 
were  once  general  outside  of  the  coast  settlements 
where  supplies  could  be  obtained  from  Europe. 
In  colonial  times  society  in  such  centres  as  Bos- 
ton, New  York,  Philadelphia,  Annapolis,  Rich- 
mond and  Charleston  was  ornate  and  even 
luxurious  among  the  well-to-do,  but  the  people 
who  tamed  the  wilderness  and  gave  the  nation  its 
continental  expansion  lived  in  the  style  Dodd- 
ridge describes,  and  these  include  the  mass  of 
the  Scotch-Irish  immigrants.  Some  extracts 
from  his  account  will  exhibit  living  conditions: 

"The  hominy  block  and  hand  mills  were 
in  use  in  most  of  our  houses.  The  first  was 
made  of  a  large  block  of  wood  about  three 
feet  long,  with  an  excavation  burned  in  one 
end,  wide  at  the  top  and  narrow  at  the  bot- 
tom, so  that  the  action  of  the  pestle  on  the 
bottom  threw  the  corn  up  the  sides  toward 
the  top  of  it,  from  whence  it  continually 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         283 

fell  down  into  the  centre.  In  consequence 
of  this  movement,  the  whole  mass  of  the 
grain  was  pretty  equally  subjected  to  the 
strokes  of  the  pestle.  In  the  fall  of  the  year, 
while  the  Indian  corn  was  soft,  the  block 
and  pestle  did  very  well  for  making  meal 
for  Johnny  cake  and  mush,  but  were  rather 
slow  when  the  corn  became  hard.  .  .  . 

"A  machine,  still  more  simple  than  the 
mortar  and  pestle,  was  used  for  making 
meal,  while  the  corn  was  too  soft  to  be 
beaten.  It  was  called  a  grater.  This  was  a 
half  circular  piece  of  tin,  perforated  with  a 
punch  from  the  concave  side,  and  nailed  by 
its  edges  to  a  block  of  wood.  The  ears  of 
corn  were  rubbed  on  the  rough  edges  of  the 
holes,  while  the  meal  fell  through  them  on 
the  board  or  block  to  which  the  grater  was 
nailed,  which  being  in  a  slanting  direction, 
discharged  the  meal  into  a  cloth  or  bowl 
placed  for  its  reception.  This  to  be  sure 
was  a  slow  way  of  making  meal;  but  neces- 
sity has  no  law.  .  .  . 

"The  hand  mill  was  better  than  the  mor- 
tar and  grater.  It  was  made  of  two  circular 
stones,  the  lowest  of  which  was  called  the 
bedstone,  the  upper  one  the  runner.  These 
were  placed  in  a  hoop ;  with  a  spout  for  dis- 
charging the  meal.  A  staff  was  let  into  a 
hole  in  the  upper  surface  of  the  runner  near 
the  outer  edge,  and  its  upper  end  through 
a  hole  in  a  board,  fastened  to  a  joist  above, 
so  that  two  persons  could  be  employed  in 
turning  the  mill  at  the  same  time.  The 
grain  was  put  into  the  opening  in  the  run- 
ner by  hand.  .  .  . 


284  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

"Our  first  water  mills  were  of  that  de- 
scription denominated  tub  mills.  It  consists 
of  a  perpendicular  shaft,  to  the  lower  end 
of  which  an  horizontal  wheel  of  about  four 
or  five  feet  diameter  is  attached,  the  upper 
end  passes  through  the  bed  stone  and  carries 
the  runner  after  the  manner  of  a  trundle- 
head.  These  mills  were  built  with  very  little 
expense,  and  many  of  them  answered  the 
purpose  very  well. 

"Instead  of  bolting  cloths,  sifters  were  in 
general  use.  These  were  made  of  deerskin 
in  a  state  of  parchment,  stretched  over  an 
hook  and  perforated  with  a  hot  wire.  Our 
clothing  was  all  of  domestic  manufacture. 
We  had  no  other  resource  for  clothing,  and 
this,  indeed,  was  a  poor  one.  The  crops  of 
flax  often  failed,  and  the  sheep  were  de- 
stroyed by  the  wolves.  Linsey,  which  is 
made  of  flax  and  wool,  the  former  the  chain 
and  the  latter  the  filling,  was  the  warmest 
and  most  substantial  cloth  we  could  make. 
Almost  every  house  contained  a  loom,  and 
almost  every  woman  was  a  weaver. 

"Every  family  tanned  their  own  leather. 
The  tan  vat  was  a  large  trough  sunk  to  the 
upper  edge  in  the  ground.  A  quantity  of 
bark  was  easily  obtained  every  spring,  in 
clearing  and  fencing  the  land.  This,  after 
drying,  was  brought  in  and  in  wet  days  was 
shaved  and  pounded  on  a  block  of  wood  with 
an  axe  or  mallet.  Ashes  were  used  in  place 
of  lime  for  taking  off  the  hair.  Bear's  oil, 
f  hog's  lard  and  tallow  answered  the  place  of 
fish  oil.  The  leather,  to  be  sure  was  coarse; 
but  it  was  substantially  good. 


> 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         285 

"Almost  every  family  contained  its  own 
tailors  and  shoemakers.  Those  who  could 
not  make  shoes,  could  make  shoe  packs. 
These  like  moccasons,  were  made  of  a  single 
piece  of  leather,  with  the  exception  of  a 
tongue  piece  on  the  top  of  the  foot.  This 
was  about  two  inches  broad,  and  circular  at 
the  lower  end,  to  this  the  main  piece  of 
leather  was  sewed,  with  a  gathering  stitch. 
The  seam  behind  was  like  that  of  a  moc- 
cason.  To  the  shoe  pack  a  sole  was  some- 
times added.  The  women  did  the  tailor 
work.  They  could  all  cut  out  and  make 
hunting  shirts,  leggins  and  drawers." 

Such  were  the  living  conditions  to  which  the 
Scotch-Irish  subjected  themselves  as  they  poured 
into  the  country.  They  were  not  at  all  repelled 
by  them,  as  they  were  inured  to  privation,  and 
skilled  in  self-help  through  their  Ulster  training. 
The  abundance  of  game  and  wild  fruits  made  the 
basis  of  subsistence  more  ample  and  varied  than 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  in  Ulster.  That 
they  took  to  backwoods  life  with  relish  is  shown 
by  the  alacrity  with  which  they  moved  forward 
wherever  lands  could  be  obtained  for  settlement. 
The  rapid  expansion  of  the  United  States  from 
a  coast  strip  to  a  continental  area  is  largely  a 
Scotch-Irish  achievement. 

The  practices  peculiar  to  them  as  a  class  be- 
long to  their  religious  system,  which  was  a  cul- 
ture and  a  discipline  whose  effects  upon  American 


286  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

national  character  have  been  very  marked.  From 
old  church  records  that  have  been  preserved 
some  idea  may  be  obtained  of  the  thoroughness 
with  which  religious  instruction  was  diffused 
through  Scotch-Irish  settlements.  Big  Spring 
congregation,  in  the  western  part  of  Cumberland 
County,  was  organized  not  later  than  the  spring 
of  1737,  for  in  June  of  that  year  a  minister  was 
called.  This  congregation  had  a  succession  of 
pastors,  either  natives  of  Ulster  or  born  of  Ulster 
parents.  One  of  these  early  pastors  was  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Wilson.  He  was  born  in  1754  in  Let- 
terkenny  township,  now  included  in  Franklin 
County,  was  graduated  from  Princeton  in  1782, 
licensed  by  Donegal  Presbytery  on  October  17, 
1786,  and  was  installed  pastor  of  the  Big  Spring 
Church,  June  20,  1787.  Some  records  of  his 
pastorate  have  been  preserved,  and  they  give  an 
instructive  view  of  the  workings  of  the  system, 
the  details  showing  that  Ulster  traditions  were 
still  vigorous  after  the  lapse  of  over  half  a  cen- 
tury. He  used  a  form  of  address  in  the  marriage 
ceremony  which  illustrates  the  plainness  and 
directness  of  speech  then  still  in  vogue.  After 
searching  inquiry  whether  or  not  objections  to 
the  marriage  existed  Mr.  Wilson  proceeded  to 
address  the  couple  as  follows: 

"The  design  of  marriage  is,  that  fornica- 
tion may  be  avoided,  and  as  our  race  is  more 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         287 

dignified  than  the  lower  creations,  so  then, 
our  passions  should  be  regulated  by  reason 
and  religion.  It  is  likewise  intended  for 
producing  a  legitimate  offspring,  and  a  seed 
for  the  church.  There  are  duties  incumbent 
upon  those  who  enter  this  relation,  some  of 
them  are  equally  binding  upon  both  parties, 
some  upon  one  party,  some  upon  the  other. 

"First,  it  is  equally  binding  upon  you  both 
to  love  each  other's  persons,  to  avoid  free- 
dom with  all  others  which  formerly  might 
have  been  excusable,  to  keep  each  other's 
lawful  secrets,  fidelity  to  the  marriage  bed, 
and  if  God  shall  give  you  an  offspring,  it 
will  be  mutually  binding  upon  you  both,  to 
consult  their  spiritual,  as  well  as  their 
temporal  concerns. 

"Secondly,  it  will  be  particularly  binding 
upon  you,  Sir,  who  is  to  be  the  head  of  the 
family,  to  maintain  the  authority  which  God 
hath  given  you.  In  every  society  there  must 
be  a  head,  and  in  families,  by  divine  author- 
ity, this  is  given  to  the  man,  but  as  woman 
was  given  to  man  for  an  helpmeet  and  a 
bosom  companion,  you  are  not  to  treat  this 
woman  in  a  tyrannical  manner,  much  less  as 
a  slave,  but  to  love  and  kindly  entreat  her, 
as  becomes  one  so  nearly  allied  to  you. 

"Lastly,  it  is  incumbent  upon  you, 
Madam,  who  is  to  be  the  wife,  to  acknowl- 
edge the  authority  of  him  who  is  to  be  your 
husband,  and  for  this,  you  have  the  example 
of  Sarah,  who  is  commended  for  calling 
Abraham,  Lord.  It  seems  to  be  your  privi- 
lege in  matters  in  which  you  and  he  cannot 
agree,  that  you  advise  with  him,  endeavor- 


288  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ing  in  an  easy  way  by  persuasion  to  gain 
him  to  your  side;  but  if  you  cannot  in  this 
way  gain  your  point,  it  is  fit  and  proper  that 
you  submit  in  matters  in  which  conscience 
is  not  concerned.  It  will  be  your  duty  in 
a  particular  manner,  to  use  good  economy 
in  regard  to  those  things  which  may  be 
placed  in  your  hands.  In  a  word,  you  are 
to  be  industrious  in  your  place  and  station." 

The  congregation  was  regimented  under  the 
elders,  John  Carson,  John  Bell,  William  Lind- 
say, John  McKeehan,  David  Ralston,  Robert 
Patterson,  Robert  Lusk,  Samuel  M'Cormick, 
Hugh  Laughlin  and  John  Robinson.  One  of  the 
elder's  duties  was  to  visit  the  members  in  his 
district  and  catechize  them  upon  questions  pre- 
pared by  the  minister,  whose  duties  included  not 
only  the  conduct  of  religious  worship,  but  also 
the  systematic  instruction  of  the  people ;  and  the 
elders  discharged  among  other  functions,  that  of 
district  examiners.  Lists  of  questions  used  by 
the  elders  of  Big  Spring  Chifrch  in  1789  have 
been  preserved.  Here  is  a  specimen: 
John  Bell's  District 

1.  What  do  you  understand  by  creation? 
Is  it  a  work  peculiar  to  God? 

2.  How  will  you  prove  from  Scripture 
and  reason  in  opposition  to  Aristotle  and 
others,  that  the  world  is  not  eternal? 

3.  How  will  you  defend  the  Mosaic  ac- 
count, which  asserts  that  the  world  has  not 
existed  6,000  years,  against  ancient  history, 


PENNSYLVANIA— SCOTCH-IRISH  CENTRE         289 

which  tells  us  of  Egyptian  records  for  more 
than  thirteen  thousand  years,  and  the  Baby- 
lonians speak  of  things  done  four  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  years  before,  and  the 
Chinese  tell  of  things  still  longer  done? 

The  third  chapter  of  the  Confession  of 
Faith  also  to  be  examined  upon. 

The  elders  did  not  use  the  same  set  of  ques- 
tions, although  some  questions  appear  in  more 
than  one  paper,  particularly  the  following: 

What  are  those  called  who  do  not 
acknowledge  divine  revelation?  What  ob- 
jections do  they  offer  against  Moses  and  his 
writings,  and  how  are  their  arguments 
confuted? 

Is  the  doctrine  of  the  saints'  perseverance 
founded  on  Scripture?  If  so,  how  will  you 
prove  it,  and  defend  the  doctrine  against 
those  who  deny  it? 

What  do  you  understand  by  the  law  of 
nature? 

The  extracts  make  a  fair  exhibit  of  the  range 
of  the  questions.  The  papers  were  prepared  by 
the  pastor,  and  in  view  of  the  large  size  of 
parishes  in  those  days  it  is  to  be  presumed  that 
the  elders  were  coached  by  the  pastor  and  made 
the  medium  of  instruction  supplementary  to  his 
pulpit  discourses.  It  is  plain  that  the  questions 
assume  a  considerable  degree  of  knowledge  on 
the  part  of  the  people.     In  considering  such 


290  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

records  the  historian  feels  that  he  is  peering 
into  the  source  of  the  extraordinary  zeal  for  edu- 
cation displayed  by  the  Scotch-Irish,  which  made 
them  as  a  class  superior  in  literacy  and  knowl- 
edge to  the  general  run  of  American  colonists. 


CHAPTER  X 

The  Indian  Wars 

A  trait  frequently  attributed  to  the  Scotch- 
Irish  is  that  of  cruelty  to  the  Indians.  Accusa- 
tion of  this  nature  goes  back  to  the  beginnings 
of  Scotch-Irish  settlement.  In  a  letter  of  James 
Logan,  written  in  1729,  he  remarks  that  "the 
Indians  themselves  are  alarmed  at  the  swarms 
of  strangers  and  we  are  afraid  of  a  breach  be- 
tween them,  for  the  Irish  are  very  rough  to 
them."  In  1730  Logan  wrote  that  "the  settle- 
ment of  five  families  from  Ireland  gives  me  more 
trouble  than  fifty  of  any  other  people."  At  a 
later  period  the  Scotch-Irish  are  charged  with 
provoking  Indian  outbreaks,  and  atrocious  mas- 
sacres of  friendly  Indians  are  laid  to  their  ac- 
count. Such  charges  are  so  inveterate  and  so 
general  that  a  detailed  examination  is  desirable. 

When  the  planting  of  English  colonies  in 
America  began  the  Indians  were  everywhere 
thick  along  the  coast,  and  accounts  of  collision 
between  the  two  races  appear  in  the  history  of  all 
the  early  settlements.  The  Massachusetts  Bay 
colonists  had  less  difficulty  of  this  kind  to  en- 

291 


292  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

counter,  because  not  long  prior  to  their  landing 
some  epidemic  sickness  swept  away  the  Indians. 
Cotton  Mather  remarks  in  his  Magnolia:  "The 
woods  were  almost  cleared  of  those  pernicious 
creatures,  to  make  room  for  a  better  growth." 
The  attitude  of  thought  manifested  by  this  Puri- 
tan divine  is  typical  of  the  sentiment  which  close 
contact  with  the  Indians  has  inspired  at  every 
stage  of  the  settlement  of  the  country.  Through- 
out the  world's  history,  when  peoples  of  different 
culture  systems  are  brought  into  contact,  the  in- 
stinct of  self  preservation  naturally  operates  to 
produce  conflict.  The  white  settlers  in  America 
impaired  the  natural  basis  of  subsistence  of  the 
Indian  tribes  by  their  clearings  and  homesteads, 
and  while  they  thus  instilled  a  deep  sense  of 
grievance,  at  the  same  time  they  aroused  cupidity 
by  their  possessions.  Out  of  such  a  situation  hos- 
tilities have  always  emerged,  be  the  scene 
America  on  one  side  of  the  world,  or  Australia 
on  the  other.  There  are  early  stages  of  Aus- 
tralian history  that  equal  in  atrocity  anything 
that  American  history  can  show.  The  Tasman- 
ians,  whose  habit  of  regarding  all  animals  as  their 
natural  prey  made  it  hard  for  them  to  discrimi- 
nate in  favor  of  sheep  or  cattle  belonging  to  a 
settler,  came  to  be  regarded  as  so  much  vermin, 
to  be  extirpated  by  the  handiest  means,  and  it  is 
charged    that    even    poison    was    used    for    the 


THE   INDIAN  WARS  293 

purpose.  The  American  Indians,  a  race  of 
much  higher  grade  than  the  Australian  black- 
fellows,  had  a  sense  of  law  and  public  obligation 
that  could  be  availed  of  in  the  negotiation  of 
treaties  and  the  purchase  of  titles ;  and  as  a  rule 
arrangements  of  this  character  either  preceded  or 
closely  attended  the  advance  of  white  settlement. 
The  superior  knowledge  and  astuteness  of  the 
whites  enabled  them  to  get  the  better  of  the  In- 
dians in  such  negotiations,  and  dealings  between 
the  two  races  were  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
Indians  who  from  time  to  time  made  bloody 
reprisals  for  their  wrongs. 

The  conflict  of  race  interest  was  aggravated  by 
personal  antipathy.  Accounts  of  the  Indian 
tribes  with  which  the  colonists  came  in  contact 
describe  them  as  filthy  in  their  persons  and 
licentious  in  their  behaviour.  The  account  given 
by  William  Penn  is  a  sharp  exception  to  the 
general  tenor.  He  believed  the  Indians  to  be 
derived  from  the  ancient  Hebrews,  and  he  ideal- 
ized their  persons,  their  living  and  their  manners 
to  an  extent  that  makes  his  account  read  more 
like  a  rhapsody  than  a  description.  No  doubt 
Penn  was  enabled  to  hold  such  idyllic  beliefs  by 
the  fact  that  he  was  an  absentee  landlord.  Those 
who  lived  in  the  colonies  and  knew  what  the  In- 
dians were  through  familiar  observation  had  a 
very  different  opinion.     "More  dirty,  foul  and 


294  THE    SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

sordid  than  swine,"  says  the  early  New  England 
historian  Hutchinson,  "being  never  so  clean  and 
sweet  as  when  they  were  well  greased."  The 
common  charge  that  they  had  no  more  sense  of 
decency  in  the  relations  of  the  sexes  than  so 
many  brutes  is  now  known  to  be  an  error,  due 
to  inability  to  apprehend  the  classificatory  sys- 
tem upon  which  the  domestic  institutions  of  the 
Indians  rested.  Lewis  H.  Morgan,  whose  work 
on  Ancient  Society  first  delineated  the  archaic 
types  of  family  organization,  based  his  theories 
upon  minute  study  of  the  customs  of  the  Ameri- 
can Indians.  He  pointed  out  that  by  Indian 
law  the  husband  of  the  eldest  daughter  of  a 
family  was  entitled  to  treat  her  sisters  also  as 
wives.  This  polygamy  appears  to  have  been  orig- 
inally part  of  a  system  of  group  marriage. 
Champlain,  who  lived  a  whole  winter  about  1615 
among  the  Algonquins,  is  quoted  by  Hutchin- 
son as  saying  that  "the  young  women,  although 
married,  run  from  one  wigwam  to  another,  and 
take  what  they  like;  but  no  violence  is  offered  to 
the  women,  all  depending  upon  their  consent. 
The  husband  takes  like  liberty,  without  raising 
any  jealousy,  or  but  little  between  them;  nor  is 
it  any  damage  or  loss  of  reputation  to  them,  such 
being  the  custom  of  the  country."  Group  rela- 
tions of  this  kind  have  been  found  among  savages 
in  many  parts  of  the  world,  and  they  are  really 


THE   INDIAN   WARS  295 

regulated  by  a  stringent  system  of  tribal  moral- 
ity, although  on  the  surface  they  appear  as  abom- 
inable promiscuity. 

Early  New  England  historians  say  that  the 
Indians  did  not  make  advances  to  white  women. 
Hutchinson  remarks  that  "the  English  women 
had  nothing  to  fear  as  to  any  attempt  upon  their 
honor."  The  families  of  settlers  who  were  made 
captives  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars  in  New 
England  seem  to  have  been  on  the  whole  well 
treated.  This  was  probably  due  to  the  influence 
of  the  French  in  Canada  to  which  country  the 
captives  were  taken.  It  was  different  in  the  In- 
dian wars  in  the  middle  colonies  and  the  South; 
women  captured  by  the  Indians  might  suffer  the 
worst  indignities.  The  victims,  if  they  eventu- 
ally escaped,  were  naturally  reticent  upon  such 
matters,  but  it  was  common  knowledge  that  they 
occurred,  and  this  intensified  frontier  hatred  of 
Indian  character.  A  well  known  case  on  the 
Virginia  frontier  was  that  of  an  Indian  child 
born  to  a  married  woman  who  had  been  an  In- 
dian captive.  The  child  was  reared  as  a  member 
of  the  family,  but  resisted  efforts  to  educate  him, 
and  after  enlisting  in  the  Revolutionary  Army 
was  never  heard  from  again. 

The  cruelty  of  the  Indians  is  remarked  by  all 
observers  of  their  characteristics.  They  dis- 
played a  positive  enjoyment  of  the  spectacle  of 


296  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

suffering,  so  that  children  would  be  put  to  the 
torture  for  their  amusement.  A  family  named 
Fisher  were  among  the  captives  made  by  an  In- 
dian raid  in  1758  in  what  is  now  Shenandoah 
County,  Virginia.  After  the  band  reached  its 
village  Jacob  Fisher,  a  lad  of  twelve  or  thirteen, 
was  set  to  gathering  dry  wood.  He  began  to 
cry,  and  told  his  father  that  he  was  afraid  they 
were  going  to  burn  him.  His  father  replied  "I 
hope  not,"  and  advised  him  to  obey.  When  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  wood  was  gathered  the  In- 
dians cleared  a  ring  around  a  sapling  to  which 
they  tied  the  boy  by  one  hand;  the  wood  was 
arranged  about  the  boy  in  a  circle  and  then  fired. 
The  boy  was  compelled  to  run  around  in  this  ring 
of  fire  until  his  rope  wound  him  up  to  the  sap- 
ling, and  then  back  again  until  he  was  in  contact 
with  the  flames.  Meanwhile  he  was  prodded 
with  long,  sharp  poles  whenever  he  flagged,  and 
thus  the  child  was  tortured  to  death  before  the 
eyes  of  his  father  and  brothers. 

Doddridge,  who  is  a  careful  narrator,  and  who 
does  not  write  in  a  spirit  of  animosity  toward  the 
Indians,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  ex- 
perience of  settlers  in  what  is  now  Greenbrier 
County,  West  Virginia: 

"Before  these  settlers  were  aware  of  the 
existence  of  the  war,  and  supposing  that  the 
peace  made  with  the  French  comprehended 


THE  INDIAN  WARS  297 

their  Indian  allies  also,  about  sixty  Indians 
visited  the  settlement  on  Muddy  Creek. 
They  made  the  visit  under  the  mask  of 
friendship.  They  were  cordially  received 
and  treated  with  all  the  hospitality  which  it 
was  in  the  power  of  these  new  settlers  to 
bestow  upon  them;  but  on  a  sudden,  and 
without  any  previous  intimation  of  anything 
like  a  hostile  intention,  the  Indians  mur- 
dered in  cold  blood  all  the  men  belonging 
to  the  settlement,  and  made  prisoners  of  the 
women  and  children.  Leaving  a  guard  with 
their  prisoners,  they  then  marched  to  the 
settlement  in  the  Levels,  before  the  fate  of 
the  Muddy  Creek  settlement  was  known. 
Here,  as  at  Muddy  Creek,  they  were  treated 
with  the  most  kind  and  attentive  hospitality 
at  the  house  of  Mr.  Archibald  Glendennin, 
who  gave  the  Indians  a  sumptuous  feast  of 
three  fat  elks  which  he  had  recently  killed. 
Here,  a  scene  of  slaughter  similar  to  that 
which  had  recently  taken  place  at  Muddy 
Creek,  occurred  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
feast. 

"Mrs.  Glendennin,  whose  husband  was 
among  the  slain,  and  herself  with  her  chil- 
dren prisoners,  boldly  charged  the  Indians 
with  perfidy  and  cowardice,  in  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  mask  of  friendship  to  commit 
murder.  One  of  the  Indians,  exasperated  at 
her  boldness,  and  stung  no  doubt  at  the  jus- 
tice of  the  charge  against  them,  brandished 
his  tomahawk  over  her  head,  and  dashed 
her  husband's  scalp  in  her  face.  In  defiance 
of  all  his  threats,  the  heroine  still  reiterated 
the  charges  of  perfidy  and  cowardice  against 


298  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  Indians.  On  the  next  day,  after  march- 
ing about  ten  miles,  while  passing  through  a 
thicket,  the  Indians  forming  a  front  and 
rear  guard,  Mrs.  Glendennin  gave  her  in- 
fant to  a  neighbor  woman,  stepped  into  the 
bushes,  without  being  perceived  by  the  In- 
dians, and  made  her  escape.  The  cries  of 
the  child  made  the  Indians  inquire  for  the 
mother.  She  was  not  to  be  found.  'Well,' 
says  one  of  them,  'I  will  soon  bring  the  cow 
to  her  calf/  and  taking  the  child  by  the  feet, 
beat  its  brains  out  against  a  tree.  Mrs. 
Glendennin  returned  home  in  the  course  of 
the  succeeding  night,  and  covered  the  corpse 
of  her  husband  with  fence  rails.  ...  It  was 
some  days  before  a  force  could  be  collected 
in  the  eastern  part  of  Botetourt  and  the  ad- 
joining country,  for  the  purpose  of  burying 
the  dead." 

These  are  typical  cases  of  Indian  outrages 
that  occurred  along  the  track  of  Scotch-Irish  set- 
tlement. There  were  like  incidents  on  the  fron- 
tier at  every  stage  in  the  settlement  of  the 
country,  and  they  produced  everywhere  an  in- 
veterate hatred  of  the  Indians.  It  was  not  a 
Scotch-Irish  characteristic  but  a  frontier  charac- 
teristic, and  while  the  Scotch-Irish  settlers  cer- 
tainly evinced  this  feeling,  it  was  not  peculiar  to 
them  as  a  class.  Everywhere  in  colonial  annals, 
whether  the  scene  be  in  New  England,  or  in 
Pennsylvania  or  in  the  South,  there  is  the  same 
story  of  the  mutual  hatred  and  ferocity  of  the 


THE   INDIAN   WARS  299 

two  races.  At  the  same  time  to  those  who  be- 
came accustomed  to  it  the  Indian  mode  of  life 
seems  to  have  had  a  decided  charm,  for  there 
are  many  instances  of  captives  becoming  gen- 
uinely incorporated  in  the  tribe.  A  noted  case 
is  that  of  a  young  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John 
Williams,  pastor  of  Deerfield,  Mass.  She  mar- 
ried an  Indian,  and  although  she  eventually  re- 
turned to  Deerfield  to  visit  her  family  and  early 
friends,  she  could  not  be  induced  to  return  to 
civilized  life. 

The  Indian  wars  were  not  systematic  military 
operations,  but  a  succession  of  guerilla  raids. 
The  colonial  Governments  were  so  poorly  organ- 
ized, so  deficient  in  resources  and  so  crude  in 
their  methods,  that  they  were  apparently  in- 
capable of  any  steady  exertion  of  public  author- 
ity for  the  protection  of  the  frontier.  In  the 
early  wars  of  the  New  England  settlements 
Indian  methods  were  adopted.  The  attitude  of 
the  authorities  and  the  state  of  public  opinion  in 
that  period  are  instructively  displayed  in  Pen- 
hallow's  History,  Samuel  Penhallow  was  a  na- 
tive of  Cornwall,  England,  who  arrived  in 
Massachusetts  in  1686  originally  with  a  view  of 
becoming  a  missionary  to  the  Indians.  He  mar- 
ried a  wealthy  heiress,  by  whom  he  acquired 
property  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  where  he  set- 
tied.    He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Provin- 


300  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

cial  Council,  was  Treasurer  of  the  Province  for 
several  years,  and  for  many  years  before  his 
death  in  1726  he  was  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su- 
perior Court.  His  History  was  published  in  1726 
with  an  introduction  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin 
Colman,  of  Boston,  who  likened  the  experience 
of  the  New  England  settlers  with  the  Indians  to 
that  of  the  children  of  Israel  with  the  Canaanites. 
Judge  Penhallow's  History  is  a  document  of  the 
highest  value,  as  it  is  a  first-hand  record  of  events. 
He  gives  a  detailed  account  of  massacres  com- 
mitted on  both  sides  along  the  border,  whither 
Scotch-Irish  immigration  to  New  England  was 
directed.  His  account  shows  that  all  the  pro- 
vincial authorities  did  ordinarily  was  to  incite 
reprisals  upon  the  Indians.  Referring  to  the 
year  1706  he  says: 

"The  state  of  affairs  still  looking  with  a 
melancholy  aspect,  it  was  resolved  for  a 
more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  to 
grant  the  following  encouragement,  viz. : 

To  regular  forces  under  pay  £10 
To  volunteers  in  service.  ...      20 
To  volunteers  without  pay.      50 (per 
To  any    troop    or    company  (scalp 

that  go  to  the  relief  of  any 
town  or  garrison 30 

"Over  and  above  was  granted  the  benefit 
of  plunder,  and  captives  of  women  and  chil- 
dren under  twelve  years  of  age,  which  at 


THE  INDIAN  WARS  301 

first  seemed  a  great  encouragement,  but  it 
did  not  answer  what  we  expect ed." 

The  bounty  was  later  raised  to  £100  a  scalp  to 
volunteers  serving  at  their  own  expense,  and  £60 
to  soldiers  drawing  pay.  The  war  was  therefore 
carried  on  principally  by  expeditions  of  scalp 
hunters.  On  one  occasion  a  party  of  them 
paraded  the  streets  of  Boston  with  ten  scalps 
stretched  on  hoops  and  borne  aloft  on  poles. 
Sullivan,  in  his  History  of  Maine,  published  in 
1795,  mentions  that  in  1756  James  Cargill  was 
charged  with  the  murder  of  two  of  the  Norridge- 
wock  tribe  of  Indians,  "but  was  acquitted  and 
drew  a  bounty  of  two  thousand  dollars  from  the 
treasury  for  their  scalps." 

This  method  of  making  war  was  as  inconclu- 
sive as  it  was  expensive.  In  1706  Penhallow  es- 
timated that  every  Indian  killed  or  taken  "cost 
the  country  at  least  a  thousand  pounds."  Of  the 
three  years  war,  1722  to  1725,  he  says:  "The 
charge  was  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  thousand  pounds,  besides  the  constant  charge 
of  watching,  warding,  scouting,  making  and  re- 
pairing of  garrisons  &c,  which  may  modestly  be 
computed  at  upward  of  seventy  thousand  pounds 
more."  And  yet  after  all,  the  Indians  were  never 
really  formidable  in  numbers  or  resources.  Pen- 
hallow  remarks  that  "it  is  surprising  to  think  that 
so  small  a  number  of  Indians  should  be  able  to 


302  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

distress  a  country  so  large  and  populous  to  the 
degree  we  have  related." 

In  Pennsylvania  the  customary  inertia  of  the 
Government  was  aggravated  by  the  positive  un- 
willingness of  the  Assembly  to  permit  the  use  of 
force.  Benjamin  Franklin  in  his  Autobiography 
speaks  of  the  unwillingness  of  "our  Quaker  As- 
sembly to  pass  a  militia  law  and  make  other 
provisions  for  the  security  of  the  Province.' '  He 
relates  that  even  when  they  did  yield  to  stress  of 
public  necessity  they  would  use  "a  variety  of 
evasions  to  avoid  complying,  and  modes  of  dis- 
guising the  compliance  when  it  became  unavoid- 
able." He  gives  as  an  instance  that  when  an 
appropriation  was  needed  for  purchasing  sup- 
plies of  gunpowder  the  Assembly  would  not 
make  the  grant,  but  did  make  an  appropriation 
"for  the  purchase  of  bread,  flour,  wheat,  or 
other  grain'3  the  Government  construing  "other 
grain"  to  cover  the  purchase  of  gunpowder,  and 
the  Assembly  not  objecting  to  that  interpreta- 
tion. The  usual  situation  was,  however,  that  the 
Governor  and  Council  were  left  without  ade- 
quate funds  for  public  defense. 

This  state  of  affairs  should  be  kept  in  mind 
when  the  events  are  considered  that  have  made 
a  deep  stain  upon  the  record  of  the  Scotch-Irish 
settlers  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Province  was 
peculiarly  exposed  to  Indian  incursion  through 


THE   INDIAN   WARS  303 

the  easterly  course  of  the  mountain  ranges.  The 
Kittatinny  mountain  range  or  Blue  Ridge, 
which  was  the  western  boundary  of  white  set- 
tlement up  to  1758,  extends  from  Western 
Maryland  to  Northern  New  Jersey.  After 
Braddock's  defeat,  on  July  9,  1755,  there  were 
Indian  raids  all  along  this  extensive  frontier.  By 
November  1,  1755,  the  magistrates  of  a  region 
so  far  southeast  as  York  County  were  calling  for 
help  to  resist  an  Indian  band  moving  down  the 
Susquehanna.  On  the  24th  of  the  same  month 
the  Indians  struck  into  the  region  now  included 
in  Carbon,  one  of  the  easternmost  counties  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  massacred  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Moravian  settlement  of  Gnadenhutten. 
Reports  of  Indian  atrocities  poured  in  upon  the 
Government  from  every  part  of  the  frontier. 
The  settlers  in  Cumberland  County,  who  were 
mainly  Scotch-Irish,  suffered  greatly  owing  to 
their  exposed  position.  Upon  August  22,  1756, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Barton  wrote  to  the  Provincial 
Secretary  relating  that  Indians  had  ambushed 
and  killed  a  number  of  people  at  the  funeral  of 
a  young  woman  "and  what  is  unparallel'd  by  any 
Instance  of  Brutality,  they  even  open'd  the 
Coffin,  took  out  the  Corpse,  and  scalp'd  her." 
Petition  after  petition  went  up  from  Cumber- 
land County  for  help  from  the  Government,  par- 
ticularly in  the  way  of  ammunition.    The  plight 


304  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN    AMERICA 

in  which  the  people  were  left  through  the  supine- 
ness  of  the  Government  is  set  forth  in  the  follow- 
ing statement  from  the  magistrates  of  York 
County,  whose  action  cannot  be  imputed  to 
Scotch-Irish  prejudice  as  in  that  region  the  Ger- 
man element  predominated : 

"We  believe  there  are  Men  enough  will- 
ing to  bear  Arms,  &  go  out  against  the 
Enemy,  were  they  supplied  with  Arms,  Am- 
munition &  a  reasonable  Allowance  for  their 
Time,  but  without  this,  at  least  Arms,  and 
Ammunition,  we  fear  little  to  purpose  can 
be  done. 

"If  some  Measures  are  not  speedily  fallen 
upon,  we  must  either  sit  at  home  till  we  are 
butcher'd  without  Mercy,  or  Resistance,  run 
away,  or  go  out  a  confused  Multitude  des- 
titute of  Arms  &  Ammunition  &  without 
Discipline  or  proper  Officers  or  any  way 
fixed  to  be  supplied  with  Provisions." 

The  then  Governor  of  the  Province,  Robert 
Hunter  Morris,  was  alive  to  his  duties,  but  he 
lacked  means  to  discharge  them;  and  the  situa- 
tion tried  his  temper.  He  wrote  to  Governor 
Shirley  of  Massachusetts,  August  27,  1756:  "I 
am  unfortunately  linked  with  a  set  of  men  that 
seem  lost  to  aH  sense  of  duty  to  their  Country, 
or  decency  to  their  Superiors,  who  will  oppose 
whatever  I  recommend,  however  beneficial  to  the 
public."  The  Assembly  was  opposed  to  creat- 
ing a  militia,  and  argued  that  the  way  to  deal 


THE   INDIAN   WARS  305 

with  the  situation  was  by  friendly  overtures  to 
the  Indians,  inquiring  into  their  grievances,  ap- 
peasing their  complaints,  and  thus  winning  them 
from  their  alliance  with  the  French.  The  im- 
minence of  the  danger  did  not  prevent  the  raising 
of  the  old  issue,  the  Assembly  insisting  upon 
taxing  the  lands  of  the  proprietors,  and  the  Gov- 
ernor, acting  under  their  instructions,  pertina- 
ciously resisting  it.  This  issue  was  eventually 
compromised,  the  Penns  agreeing  to  make  a  con- 
tribution in  lieu  of  taxes,  and  means  were  ob- 
tained to  erect  forts  along  the  frontiers  to  which 
the  people  could  resort  for  protection.  Lacking 
an  organized  force  to  repel  the  Indians,  the  New 
England  policy  of  offering  bounties  for  scalps 
was  adopted.  On  April  9,  1756,  the  following 
schedule  was  proclaimed: 

"For  every  Male  Indian  pris- 
oner above  ten  years  old,  that 
shall  be  delivered  at  any  of  the 
Government's  Forts,  or  Towns  $150 

"For  Female  Indian  Prisoner 
or  Male  Prisoner  of  Ten  years 
old  and  under,  delivered  as  above  $130 

"For  the  Scalp  of  every  Male 
Indian  of  above  Ten  years  old  $130 

"For  the  Scalp  of  every  In- 
dian woman    $  50" 

Such  measures  disgraced  the  Provincial  Gov- 
ernment by  adopting  the  methods  of  savages  and 
were  quite  futile  as  a  means  of  public  defense. 


306  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

They  made  the  war  just  such  a  game  as  the  In- 
dians liked  to  play.  To  give  and  take  in  the 
matter  of  scalps  was  what  they  expected.  The 
outrages  committed  by  them  were  as  a  rule  the 
work  of  small  parties  who  would  surprise  the 
settlers  in  the  fields  or  at  their  homes,  slay  and 
scalp,  and  then  make  off.  The  alarm  would 
crowd  the  forts  for  a  while,  but  the  settlers  could 
not  permanently  abandon  their  fields  and  crops 
and  would  eventually  leave  the  fort  to  become 
exposed  to  another  raid.  Thus  the  war  dragged 
along  for  years  attended  by  inconceivable  misery. 
The  cry  of  distress  was  heard  across  the  ocean, 
and  on  June  24,  1760,  the  Ulster  Synod  author- 
ized a  collection  for  the  relief  of  the  afflicted 
Presbyterian  ministers  in  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York.  The  number  of  refugees  gathered 
about  the  forts  of  Shippensburg  in  July,  1763, 
is  computed  at  1,384 — 301  men,  345  women,  and 
738  children.  Every  shed,  barn  or  possible  place 
of  shelter  was  crowded  with  people  who  had 
been  driven  from  their  homesteads,  losing  their 
live  stock  and  harvests  and  reduced  to  beggary. 

There  was  persistent  complaint  that  aid  and 
comfort  to  Indian  incursions  were  given  by  the 
Indians  still  resident  in  the  area  of  white  settle- 
ment. An  official  report  was  made  to  the  As- 
sembly in  October,  1763,  that  the  Moravian  In- 
dians in  Northampton  County  were  supplying 


THE  INDIAN   WARS  30T 

the  hostiles  with  arms  and  ammunition.  It  was 
ordered  that  these  Indians  should  be  brought  in 
from  the  frontier.  Similar  complaints  were 
made  against  the  Conestoga  Indians  in  Lancas- 
ter County,  and  it  was  strongly  urged  that  they, 
too,  should  be  removed  to  some  other  place  where 
they  would  be  out  of  the  way  of  frontier  events, 
but  nothing  was  done  until  there  was  a  terrible 
catastrophe. 

Among  a  number  of  companies  organized  for 
frontier  defense  was  one  under  the  command 
of  the  Rev.  John  Elder,  which  was  recruited 
from  the  Scotch-Irish  of  the  Paxtang  district, 
now  in  Dauphin  County.  The  outrages  from 
which  the  settlers  were  now  suffering  were  the 
work  not  of  war  bands  but  of  a  few  Indians 
moving  furtively,  who  would  ambuscade  and 
kill  some  traveler  or  attack  some  one  working 
in  the  fields,  and  only  by  finding  mutilated  bodies 
would  the  settlers  know  that  Indian  marauders 
were  about.  It  was  generally  believed  that  such 
acts  were  facilitated  by  the  existence  of  Indian 
villages  in  which  the  stray  hostiles  could  find 
shelter.  It  was  charged  that  strange  Indians 
were  seen  going  to  and  coming  from  the  village 
of  the  Conestoga  Indians.  Under  date  of  Sep- 
tember 13,  1763,  Colonel  Elder  wrote  to  the 
Governor:  "I  suggest  to  you  the  propriety 
of  an  immediate  removal  of  the  Indians  from 


308  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Conestoga,  and  placing  a  garrison  in  their  room. 
In  case  this  is  done,  I  pledge  myself  for  the  fu- 
ture security  of  the  frontiers."  The  reply  to  this 
letter  was  written  by  John  Penn,  who  about  this 
time  became  Governor  of  the  Province.  He  said 
that  "The  Indians  of  Conestoga  have  been  rep- 
resented as  innocent,  helpless,  and  dependent 
upon  the  Governor  for  support.  The  faith  of 
this  Government  is  pledged  for  their  protection. 
I  cannot  remove  them  without  adequate  cause." 

At  last  the  people  decided  to  act  for  them- 
selves. On  December  13,  1763,  a  party  of 
frontiersmen  moved  upon  the  Conestoga  In- 
dians. According  to  one  version  the  intention 
was  to  apprehend  some  prowling  Indians  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  Conestoga,  and  the  massacre 
that  ensued  was  due  to  a  show  of  resistance  by 
some  Indians  who  rushed  out,  brandishing  their 
tomahawks.  According  to  Governor  Penn  the 
affair  was  "barbarous  murder,"  committed  "in 
defiance  of  all  Laws  &  Authority,"  by  "a  party 
of  Rioters."  Colonel  Elder,  in  a  letter  to  Gover- 
nor Penn,  under  date  of  October  16,  1763,  gave 
this  account: 

"On  receiving  intelligence  the  13th  inst. 
that  a  number  of  persons  were  assembling 
on  purpose  to  go  &  cut  off  the  Connestogue 
Indians,  in  concert  with  Mr.  Forster,  the 
neighboring  Magistrate,  I  hurried  off  an 
Express  with   a  written  message  to  that 


THE   INDIAN   WARS  309 

party,  entreating  them  to  desist  from  such 
an  undertaking,  representing  to  them  the 
unlawfulness  &  barbarity  of  such  an  action, 
that  it's  cruel  &  unchristian  in  its  nature,  & 
wou'd  be  fatal  in  its  consequences  to  them- 
selves &  families;  that  private  persons  have 
no  right  to  take  the  lives  of  any  under  the 
protection  of  the  Legislature;  that  they 
must,  if  they  proceeded  in  that  affair,  lay 
their  accounts  to  meet  with  a  Severe  prose- 
cution, &  become  liable  even  to  capital  pun- 
ishment; that  they  need  not  expect  that  the 
Country  wou'd  endeavour  to  conceal  or 
screen  them  from  punishment,  but  that  they 
would  be  detected  &  given  up  to  the  resent- 
ment of  the  Governm't.  These  things  I 
urged  in  the  warmest  terms,  in  order  to  pre- 
vail with  them  to  drop  the  enterprise,  but 
to  no  purpose;  they  push'd  on,  &  have  de- 
stroyed some  of  these  Indians,  tho'  how 
many,  I  have  not  yet  been  certainly  in- 
formed; I,  nevertheless,  thought  it  my  duty 
to  give  your  Honour  this  early  notice,  that 
an  action  of  this  nature  mayn't  be  imputed 
to  these  frontier  Settlemts.  For  I  know  not 
of  one  person  of  Judgm*  or  prudence  that 
has  been  in  any  wise  concerned  in  it,  but  it 
has  been  done  by  some  hot  headed,  ill  ad- 
vised persons,  &  especially  by  such,  I 
imagine,  as  suffer'd  much  in  their  relations 
by  the  Ravages  committed  in  the  late  In- 
dian War." 

That  the  affair  was  indeed  an  outburst  of 
mob  cruelty  inspired  by  race  hatred  is  shown  by 
the  sequel.    The  Indians  killed  in  the  attack  on 


310  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Conestoga  were  six  in  number.  The  survivors 
were  now  removed  to  Lancaster,  where  they  were 
lodged  in  the  workhouse.  On  December  27  a 
party  of  men  from  Paxton  and  Donegal  stormed 
the  workhouse  and  killed  the  Indians.  One 
version  is  that  the  original  intention  was  to  seize 
one  of  the  Indians,  who  was  charged  with  mur- 
der, and  take  him  to  Carlisle  jail  where  he  would 
be  held  for  trial;  but  as  resistance  was  encount- 
ered, shooting  began  and  did  not  cease  until 
every  Indian  was  killed.  The  dead  numbered 
fourteen,  among  whom  there  were  three  women, 
eight  children,  and  only  three  men.  Such  facts 
do  not  support  the  pretext  that  the  massacre 
was  occasioned  by  resistance  to  arrest.  Colonel 
Elder  wrote  at  once  to  Governor  Penn  deplor- 
ing the  affair  which  he  attributed  to  the  failure 
of  the  Government  to  remove  the  Indians  as  had 
been  frequently  urged.  "What  could  I  do  with 
men  heated  to  madness,"  Elder  went  on  to  say. 
"I  expostulated,  but  life  and  reason  were  set  at 
defiance." 

Public  sentiment  in  the  Scotch-Irish  settle- 
ments strongly  condemned  the  mob  outbreak. 
Writing  to  the  Governor  from  Carlisle  on  De- 
cember 28,  Col.  John  Armstrong  said:  "Not 
one  person  of  the  County  of  Cumberland  so  far 
as  I  can  learn,  has  either  been  consulted  or  con- 
cerned in  that  inhuman  and  scandalous  piece  of 


THE   INDIAN   WARS  311 

Butchery — and  I  should  be  sorry  that  ever  the 
people  of  this  County  should  attempt  avenging 
their  injuries  on  the  heads  of  a  few  inoffensive 
superannuated  Savages,  whom  nature  had  al- 
ready devoted  to  the  dust."  Cumberland  was 
more  strongly  Scotch-Irish  in  population  than 
any  other  county  in  Pennsylvania.  Colonel  Arm- 
strong, of  Ulster  nativity,  was  an  elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Under  date  of  December  31,  1763,  Governor 
Penn  received  an  anonymous  letter  from  Leba- 
non, advising  him  that  "Many  of  the  Inhabitants 
of  the  Townships  of  Lebanon,  Paxton  &  Han- 
over are  Voluntarily  forming  themselves  in  a 
Company  to  March  to  Philadelphia,  with  a  De- 
sign to  Kill  the  Indians  that  Harbour  there." 
This  view  of  the  situation  was  at  once  adopted  by 
the  Governor  in  his  official  announcements.  On 
January  3, 1764,  he  sent  a  message  to  the  Assem- 
bly notifying  it  of  "the  cruel  Massacre  of  the 
Indians"  at  Lancaster,  and  adding  that  "the 
party  who  perpetrated  this  outrage  do  not  intend 
to  stop  here,  but  are  making  great  additions  to 
their  numbers,  and  are  actually  preparing  to 
come  down  in  a  large  Body  and  cut  off  the  In- 
dians seated  by  the  Government  on  the  Province 
Island;  and  it  is  difficult  to  determine  how  far 
they  may  carry  their  designs,  or  where  the  mis- 
chief may  end." 


312  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

The  provincial  records  of  this  period  con- 
tained much  about  this  threatened  attack  upon 
friendly  Indians.  But  what  was  really  impend- 
ing was  a  popular  revolt  against  the  supine, 
nerveless  and  bewildered  rule  of  the  narrow 
oligarchy  that  controlled  the  policy  of  the  As- 
sembly. The  Government  made  extensive  prep- 
arations to  repel  attack.  General  Gage,  who 
was  in  chief  command  of  the  British  forces  in 
America,  supplied  a  detachment  of  regulars  to 
guard  the  barracks  in  which  the  Indians  were 
lodged.  Cannon  were  posted  and  the  place  was 
strongly  fortified.  If  an  attack  upon  the  In- 
dians had  been  the  controlling  purpose  of  the 
frontiersmen  they  would  now  have  desisted,  as 
such  an  undertaking  was  plainly  hopeless,  but 
they  were  not  deterred  from  continuing  their 
march  toward  Philadelphia,  as  their  main  object 
was  a  redress  of  grievances.  At  Germantown 
they  were  met  by  commissioners  with  promises  of 
a  hearing  of  their  complaints.  Col.  Matthew 
Smith  and  James  Gibson  went  forward  with  the 
commissioners  to  meet  the  Governor  and  the  As- 
sembly, and  the  body  of  frontiersmen  now  dis- 
solved, most  of  them  returning  at  once  to  their 
homes.  The  statement  of  grievances  presented 
to  the  provincial  authorities  is  of  such  value  as 
an  historical  record,  and  is  so  illuminative  of  the 
ideas  of  the  times,  that  it  is  given  in  full  in 
Appendix  D. 


THE  INDIAN  WARS  313 

The  Assembly  did  nothing  to  the  point.  The 
petitions  were  referred  to  a  committee  which 
recommended  a  conference  with  representatives 
of  the  back  counties,  the  Governor  to  take  part. 
The  Governor  sent  a  pedantic  message  declining 
to  participate,  and  declaring  that  he  "doubts  not 
but  the  House  will  take  into  Consideration  such 
parts  of  the  Remonstrance  as  are  proper  for 
their  Cognizance,  and  do  therein  what  in  their 
Wisdom  and  Justice  they  think  Right,  as  he 
will  with  Regard  to  such  other  parts  as  Relate 
to  the  executive  Branch  of  the  Government.' ' 
The  Assembly  proceeded  no  further  with  the 
matter  of  the  petitions.  An  act  providing  for 
removing  the  trial  of  persons  charged  with  killing 
Indians  in  Lancaster  County  was  passed  despite 
the  remonstrance,  but  no  convictions  were  ob- 
tained under  it. 

Contemporary  opinion  among  the  Scotch- 
Irish  themselves,  while  deploring  the  occurrence, 
was  inclined  to  make  excuses  on  the  score  of  the 
exigencies  of  the  case.  The  Rev.  John  Ewing, 
D.D.,  writing  to  Joseph  Reed  at  London  in 
1764,  gave  the  following  account: 

"There  are  twenty-two  Quakers  in  our 
Assembly,  at  present,  who,  although  they 
won't  absolutely  refuse  to  grant  money  for 
the  King's  use,  yet  never  fail  to  contrive 
matters  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  afford  little 
or  no  assistance  to  the  poor  distressed  fron- 


314  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

tiers;  while  our  public  money  is  lavishly 
squandered  away,  in  supporting  a  number 
of  savages,  who  had  been  murdering  and 
scalping  us  for  many  years  past.  This  has 
enraged  some  desperate  young  men  who 
had  lost  their  nearest  relatives  by  these  very 
Indians,  to  cut  off  about  twenty  Indians, 
that  lived  near  Lancaster,  who  had,  during 
the  war,  carried  on  a  constant  intercourse 
with  our  other  enemies;  and  they  came 
to  Germantown  to  inquire  why  Indians, 
known  to  be  enemies,  were  supported,  even 
in  luxury,  with  the  best  that  our  markets 
afforded,  at  the  public  expense,  while  they 
were  left  in  the  utmost  distress  on  the  fron- 
tiers, in  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 
Ample  promises  were  made  to  them,  that 
their  grievances  shall  be  redressed,  upon 
which,  they  immediately  dispersed  and  went 
home.  These  persons  have  been  unjustly 
represented  as  endeavoring  to  overturn  the 
Government,  when  nothing  was  more  dis- 
tant from  their  minds.  However  this  matter 
may  be  looked  upon  in  Britain,  where  you 
know  very  little  of  the  matter,  you  may  be 
assured  that  ninety-nine  in  a  hundred  of  the 
Province  are  firmly  pursuaded  that  they 
are  maintaining  our  enemies,  while  our 
friends,  who  are  suffering  the  greatest  ex- 
tremities, are  neglected;  and  that  few,  but 
Quakers,  think  that  the  Lancaster  Indians 
have  suffered  anything  but  their  just 
deserts." 

It  is  now  known  that  Dr.  Ewing's  letter  cor- 
rectly describes  the  state  of  public  opinion,  but 


THE   INDIAN   WARS  315 

the  opponents  of  the  Scotch-Irish  secured  a  last- 
ing advantage  in  getting  historical  authority  on 
their  side.  The  first  history  of  Pennsylvania 
was  written  by  Robert  Proud,  an  English 
Quaker,  who  arrived  at  Philadelphia  in  January, 
1759.  At  the  time  of  the  march  of  the  frontiers- 
men he  was  teaching  Greek  and  Latin  in  the 
Friends'  Academy.  His  History  is  a  dry,  color- 
less narrative  of  events,  except  when  he  describes 
the  approach  of  the  frontiersmen,  and  then  the 
heat  of  his  language  reflects  the  alarm  and  ex- 
citement felt  in  the  section  of  the  community  to 
which  Proud  himself  belonged.  He  says  that 
"This  lawless  banditti  advanced,  in  many  hun- 
dreds, armed,  as  far  as  Germantown,  within 
about  six  miles  of  the  city,  threatening  death 
and  slaughter  to  all  who  should  dare  to  oppose 
them." 

Proud's  History  stood  alone  in  its  field  until 
Thomas  F.  Gordon's  work  was  published  in 
1829.  Gordon  wrote  in  a  judicial  spirit,  and  in 
an  appendix  he  gave  a  list  of  Indian  outrages 
that  had  exasperated  public  sentiment,  but  he 
treats  the  march  to  Philadelphia  as  of  a  piece 
with  the  riots  at  Conestoga  and  Lancaster,  and 
declares  that  "nothing  but  the  spirited  measures 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  saved  it  from  the 
fury  of  an  exasperated  armed  multitude,  who 
would  not  have  hesitated  to  extend  their  ven- 


316  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

geance  from  the  Indians  to  their  protectors." 
Gordon  also  declares  that  "there  is  every  reason 
to  infer,  from  the  profound  veneration  the  In- 
dians entertained  for  the  Quakers,  and  the  at- 
tention they  paid  to  their  messages,  that  had  the 
Friends  been  permitted  to  follow  out  their  plans 
of  benevolence,  the  Indian  War  would  never 
have  existed  or  would  have  been  of  short 
duration." 

The  verdict  of  history  as  thus  pronounced  by 
Proud  and  Gordon  was  generally  accepted  until 
Dr.  William  H.  Egle's  History  appeared  in 
1876,  in  which  there  was  a  weighty  presentation 
of  the  case  in  behalf  of  the  Scotch-Irish,  and  it 
was  shown  by  citations  from  the  private  corre- 
spondence of  Governor  Penn  that  he  was  really 
of  the  opinion  that  the  frontier  complaints  were 
well  founded,  although  he  was  so  situated  that 
he  did  not  feel  able  to  act  on  that  belief. 

The  ground  upon  which  Quaker  policy  to- 
ward the  Indians  rested,  from  which  nothing 
could  budge  it,  was  that  by  it  the  Province  had 
escaped  the  Indian  wars  from  which  other  colo- 
nies had  suffered,  and  peaceful  relations  had 
been  maintained  until  the  breaking  out  of  hos- 
tilities with  the  French  and  Indians  in  1754. 
This  is  an  impressive  fact  that  has  been  much 
remarked  by  historians.  The  circumstances 
however  indicate  that  the  success  of  this  policy 


THE  INDIAN  WARS  317 

was  due  more  to  particular  conditions  than  to  its 
intrinsic  merit.  At  the  time  the  settlement  of 
Pennsylvania  began  the  Indians  living  in  that 
Province  had  been  so  broken  and  humbled  by 
wars  with  other  tribes  that  they  were  ready  for 
peace  on  any  terms.  In  submitting  themselves 
to  the  conquering  Iroquois  they  even  accepted 
the  humiliation  of  declaring  themselves  to  be 
women,  and  putting  on  women's  dress.  In  1742, 
when  Governor  Thomas  had  some  trouble  with  a 
tribe  of  the  Delawares,  he  solicited  the  influence 
of  the  Six  Nations.  That  powerful  Indian  con- 
federacy sent  a  delegation  whose  spokesman 
gave  the  Delawares  a  scolding  that  cowed  them 
at  once.  One  of  the  delegates,  Canassatego, 
a  Mengwe  chief,  addressing  the  Delawares  in 
the  presence  of  Governor  Thomas  said: 

"We  conquered  you;  we  made  women  of 
you;  you  know  you  are  women,  and  can  no 
more  sell  land  than  women ;  nor  is  it  fit  you 
should  have  the  power  of  selling  lands,  since 
you  would  abuse  it.  This  land  that  you 
claim  is  gone  through  your  guts;  you  have 
been  furnished  with  clothes,  meat  and  drink, 
by  the  goods  paid  you  for  it,  and  now  you 
want  it  again,  like  children  as  you  are." 

In  conclusion  Canassatego  bade  them  talk  no 
more  about  their  claims  but  to  depart  at  once, 
as  he  liad  some  business  to  transact  with  the 
English.    The  Delawares  meekly  complied,  leav- 


318  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ing  the  council  at  once,  and  soon  thereafter  re- 
moving from  the  region  to  which  they  had  been 
laying  claim.  These  broken  spirited  tribes  were 
ready  enough  to  hold  peace  conferences  and  re- 
ceive presents,  and  they  became  artful  in  prac- 
ticing upon  the  inexhaustible  pacificism  of  the 
Quakers.  This  policy  of  tribute  was  condemned 
by  the  settlers  both  as  a  drain  upon  the  public 
treasury  and  as  an  incentive  to  aggression. 
Even  Gordon  admits: 

"Their  hostility  has  been  rewarded  rather 
than  chastised  by  Pennsylvania;  every 
treaty  of  peace  was  accompanied  by  rich 
presents,  and  their  detention  of  the  prison- 
ers was  overlooked  upon  slight  apologies, 
though  obviously  done  to  afford  opportuni- 
ties for  new  treaties  and  additional  gifts." 

The  policy  of  soft  words  and  tribute,  while 
tolerably  successful  so  long  as  only  the  Indians 
of  the  Province  had  to  be  dealt  with,  was  entirely 
futile  when  the  French  were  stirring  up  the  In- 
dians, and  the  entire  frontier  was  in  a  blaze.  The 
notion  of  the  Quaker  oligarchy  at  Philadelphia 
that  the  Pennsylvania  situation  could  be  local- 
ized and  the  Indians  be  pursuaded  to  be  good 
within  that  area  was  grotesquely  inept,  and  its 
practical  effect  was  to  facilitate  Indian  outrages 
by  paralyzing  the  Government. 

Gov.  John  Penn  took  office  in  November, 
1763,  when  frontier  exasperation  over  the  su- 


THE   INDIAN   WARS  319 

pineness  of  the  Government  had  reached  a  mad- 
dening pitch.  A  grandson  of  William  Penn,  he 
was  born  in  the  Province  and  lived  there  for  ten 
years  before  taking  office;  so  he  was  personally- 
familiar  with  conditions.  His  father,  Richard 
Penn,  and  his  uncle,  Thomas,  were  at  that  time 
the  Proprietors  as  heirs  of  William  Penn,  and 
his  commission  as  Governor  came  from  them. 
Soon  after  taking  office  he  wrote  as  follows  to 
Thomas  Penn,  under  date  of  November  15, 
1763: 

"I  have  had  petitions  every  day  from  the 
Frontier  Inhabitants  requesting  assistance 
against  the  Indians,  who  still  continue  their 
ravages  in  the  most  cruel  manner,  and  as 
they  say  themselves,  are  determined  not  to 
lay  down  the  Hatchet  till  they  have  driven 
the  English  into  the  Sea.  We  had  news 
yesterday  of  two  families  being  murdered 
near  Shippensburg.  I  have  not  yet  heard 
the  particulars,  but  the  fact  may  be  de- 
pended upon.  We  have  been  obliged  to 
order  the  Moravian  Indians  down  to  Phila- 
delphia to  quiet  the  minds  of  the  Inhabi- 
tants of  Northampton  County,  who  were 
Determined  either  to  quit  their  settlements 
or  take  an  opportunity  of  murdering  them 
all,  being  suspicious  of  their  having  been 
concerned  in  several  murders  in  that 
County.  These  Indians  came  down  two 
days  ago  &  were  immediately  sent  to  the 
Pesthouse,  where  they  were  quartered." 


320  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

But  with  regard  to  the  Conestoga  Indians 
Governor  Penn  pursued  an  altogether  different 
policy,  and  yet  it  appears  from  his  private  cor- 
respondence that  he  did  not  believe  the  Cones- 
togas  to  be  so  innocent  as  they  were  represented 
to  be.  Why  then  did  he  refuse  to  remove  them, 
although  he  did  remove  the  Moravian  Indians? 
It  is  a  reasonable  conjecture  that  he  was  trying 
to  avoid  difficulties  with  the  controlling  element 
in  the  Assembly.  Moravian  missionaries  and 
Quakers  were  suffering  from  the  Indian  incur- 
sions into  Northampton  County,  and  about  their 
welfare  there  was  more  concern  than  about  the 
Scotch-Irish  of  Lancaster  County.  It  may  be 
noted  that  he  does  not  himself  undertake  to  ex- 
onerate the  Conestoga  Indians,  but  merely  says 
that  they  "have  been  represented  as  innocent.' ' 
In  the  following  letter  to  Thomas  Penn,  the 
manuscript  of  which  is  undated,  he  expresses  a 
different  opinion: 

".  .  .  .  You  will  see  by  the  commotion 
the  Province  has  been  in  for  a  long  time  past, 
the  Impossibility  of  apprehending  the  mur- 
derers of  the  Conestoga  Indians.  There  is 
not  a  man  in  the  County  of  Cumberland  but 
is  of  the  Rioters'  Party.  If  we  had  ten 
thousand  of  the  King's  troops  I  don't  be- 
lieve it  would  be  possible  to  secure  one  of 
these  people.  Though  I  took  all  the  pains 
I  could,  even  to  get  their  names,  I  could  not 
succeed,  for  indeed  nobody  would  make  the 


THE  INDIAN  WARS  321 

discovery,  though  ever  so  well  acquainted 
with  them,  &  there  is  not  a  magistrate  in  the 
County  would  have  touch'd  one  of  them. 
The  people  of  this  Town  are  as  Inveterate 
against  the  Indians  as  the  Frontier  Inhabi- 
tants, for  it  is  beyond  a  doubt  that  many  of 
the  Indians  now  in  Town  have  been  con- 
cerned in  committing  murders  among  the 
back  settlers ;  &  I  believe,  were  it  not  for  the 
King's  troops,  who  are  here  to  protect  them, 
that  the  whole  power  of  the  Government 
would  not  be  able  to  prevent  their  being 
murder'd.  Nothing  can  justify  the  madness 
of  the  people  in  flying  in  the  face  of  Gov- 
ernment in  the  manner  they  have  done,  al- 
though what  they  have  suffer'd  from  these 
cruel  savages  is  beyond  description.  Many 
of  them  have  had  their  wives  and  children 
Murder'd  and  scalped,  their  houses  burnt  to 
the  ground,  their  Cattle  destroy'd,  and  from 
an  easy,  plentiful  life,  are  now  become  beg- 
gars. In  short  this  Spirit  has  spread  like 
wildfire,  not  only  through  this  Province,  but 
the  neighboring  governments,  which  are  to 
the  full  as  Inveterate  against  the  Indians 
as  we  are.  The  14th  of  this  month  we  ex- 
pect two  thousand  of  the  Rioters  in  Town  to 
insist  upon  the  Assembly's  granting  their 
request  with  regard  to  J;he  increase  of  Rep- 
resentatives, to  put  them  upon  an  equality 
with  the  rest  of  the  Counties.  They  have 
from  time  to  time  presented  several  peti- 
tions for  that  purpose,  which  has  been  al- 
ways disregarded  by  the  House;  for  which 
reason  they  intend  to  come  in  person." 


322  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

It  may  be  argued  that  the  passage  in  the  above 
referring  to  the  complicity  of  the  so-called 
friendly  Indians  in  the  outrages  on  the  frontier 
does  not  necessarily  include  the  Conestoga  In- 
dians. Dr.  Egle  in  his  History  cites  a  letter  from 
John  Penn  to  Thomas  Penn  in  which  the  Gov- 
ernor says: 

"The  Conestoga  Indians,  but  also  those 
that  lived  at  Bethlehem  and  in  other  parts 
of  the  Province,  were  all  perfidious — were 
in  the  French  interest  and  in  combination 
with  our  open  enemies." 

Another  circumstance,  significant  as  indicative 
of  Governor  Penn's  own  opinion,  is  that  he 
transmitted  to  Thomas  Penn  a  pamphlet  en- 
titled The  Conduct  of  the  Paoctons  Impartially 
Represented,  with  the  information  that  it  is  by 
a  Mr.  Barton,  for  whom  he  vouches  as  a  sensible 
and  honest  man.  Writing  under  date  of  June 
16,  1764,  Governor  Penn  mentions  that  Barton's 
authorship  "is  a  secret;  for  it  seems  the  Assembly 
have  vow'd  vengeance  against  all  who  have 
ventur'd  to  write  anything,  that  may  have  a 
tendency  to  expose  their  own  iniquitous  meas- 
ures." The  Assembly  took  very  high  views  of 
prerogative  and  regarded  any  comment  upon 
its  behavior  as  a  breach  of  privilege  to  be 
severely  punished.  The  pamphlet  transmitted  by 
Governor  Penn  was  published  anonymously  in 


THE   INDIAN   WARS  323 

March,  1764,  and  it  is  a  very  severe  arraignment 
of  Quaker  policy,  holding  that  upon  it  the  guilt 
of  bloodshed  chiefly  rests.  The  pamphlet  is 
loaded  with  classical  erudition  and  Scriptural  ci- 
tation to  an  oppressive  extent,  but  it  contains 
some  sharp  home  thrusts,  as  in  the  following: 

"When  a  Waggon  Load  of  the  scalped 
and  mangled  Bodies  of  their  Countrymen 
were  brought  to  Philadelphia  and  laid  at  the 
State  House  Door,  and  another  Waggon 
Load  brought  into  the  Town  of  Lancaster, 
did  they  rouse  to  Arms  to  avenge  the  Cause 
of  their  murder'd  Friends?  Did  we  hear  any 
of  those  Lamentations  that  are  now  so  plen- 
tifully poured  for  the  Connestogoe  Indians  ? 
— O  my  dear  Friends!  must  I  answer — No? 
The  Dutch  and  Irish  are  murder'd  without 
Pity." 

The  author  of  this  pamphlet  was  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Barton,  a  native  of  Ireland  belonging 
to  an  English  family  which  settled  there  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  I.  He  was  graduated  at  Dub- 
lin University,  went  to  America  and  was  for  a 
time  a  tutor  in  the  Philadelphia  Academy  that 
was  the  germ  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
In  1754  he  received  Episcopal  orders  in  Eng- 
land, and  returned  as  a  missionary  for  the  So- 
ciety for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  He 
accompanied  General  Braddock's  expedition  as  a 
chaplain,  and  later  settled  in  Lancaster  as  rector 
of  St.  James  parish,  where  he  remained  until  his 


324  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Tory  principles  made  his  position  untenable  and 
caused  his  removal  to  New  York.  He  was  a 
resident  of  Lancaster  at  the  time  of  the  riots, 
and  as  an  Anglican  clergyman  he  was  not  likely 
to  have  any  partiality  for  the  Scotch-Irish  Pres- 
byterians. He  disclaims  approval  of  the  acts 
of  the  rioters,  but  he  contends  that  the  blame 
chiefly  rests  upon  the  policy  of  the  Provincial 
Assembly,  which  in  view  of  all  the  evidence  now 
appears  to  be  a  just  verdict. 

The  light  of  history  at  times  has  the  effect  of 
coming  from  a  bull's  eye  lantern,  bringing  its 
object  into  unnatural  relief.  Such  has  been  the 
case  with  the  affair  of  the  Conestoga  Indians, 
which  is  only  one,  and  that  far  from  being  the 
greatest,  among  the  innumerable  cases  of  lynch 
law  which  have  resulted  from  the  weakness  and 
incompetence  of  American  public  authority. 

Note — The  letters  of  John  Penn  quoted  in  this  chapter  were 
copied  by  the  writer  from  the  original  manuscripts  in  the 
archives  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia, 
with  the  exception  of  one  letter,  which  is  not  in  the  Philadelphia 
collection,  but  is  given  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  W.  H.  Egle,  who 
cites  it  in  his  History  of  Pennsylvania.  Dr.  Egle  was  for  twelve 
years  State  Historian  of  Pennsylvania,  and  availed  himself  of 
manuscript   collections    at    Harrisburg. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Planting  the  Church 

Although  all  the  church  historians  recognize 
the  important  influence  which  Scotch-Irish  emi- 
gration exerted  in  introducing  and  spreading 
Presbyterianism  in  the  American  colonies,  yet 
owing  to  the  usual  mode  of  treatment  which  re- 
gards Presbyterianism  as  a  phase  of  the  Puritan 
movement,  the  architectonic  character  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  influence  does  not  stand  out  with 
the  distinctness  that  is  its  due.  Thus  Dr.  Briggs 
in  his  American  Presbyterianism  first  mentions 
the  Puritan  settlements  in  New  England.  A 
much  older  History  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Webster 
gives  a  more  correct  view  of  genetic  order,  by 
taking  Ulster  as  the  starting  point  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America. 
The  still  older  History  by  the  Rev.  Charles 
Hodge  regards  the  beginnings  of  American  Pres- 
byterianism as  involved  in  Puritan  emigration  to 
America.  All  these  historians  have  solid  grounds 
for  the  positions  they  have  taken,  but  for  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  matter  certain  distinctions 
should  be  borne  in  mind.    We  must  distinguish 


326  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

between  Puritanism  and  Presbyterianism ;  be- 
tween Presbyterianism  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  use  of  the  term  "Puritan"  has  been  traced 
to  the  year  1564.  Fuller,  in  his  Church  History, 
says  that  in  that  year  "the  English  Bishops,  con- 
ceiving themselves  empowered  by  their  canons, 
began  to  show  their  authority  in  urging  the 
clergy  of  their  dioceses  to  subscribe  to  the 
liturgy,  ceremonies  and  discipline  of  the  Church, 
and  such  as  refused  the  same  were  branded  with 
the  odious  name  of  Puritans,  a  name  which,  in 
this  nation,  first  began  in  this  year."  Arch- 
bishop Parker,  in  his  letters  of  this  period,  uses 
the  terms  "Precision,"  "Puritan"  and  "Presby- 
terian" as  nicknames  for  the  reforming  party  in 
the  Church.  In  1574  Dr.  Thomas  Sampson,  who 
was  himself  one  of  those  that  sought  to  purify  the 
order  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  wrote  to 
Bishop  Grindal,  protesting  against  the  use  of  the 
odious  epithet  "Puritan"  to  designate  "brethren 
with  whose  doctrine  and  life  no  man  can  justly 
find  fault."  This  repugnance  to  an  appellation 
that  later  was  accepted  as  honorable  was  due  to 
the  fact  that  as  originally  used  it  carried  with  it 
an  imputation  of  schism,  whereas  the  early  Puri- 
tans considered  themselves  loyal  Churchmen, 
seeking  to  rid  the  Church  of  abuses  and  corrup- 
tions.    The  Puritan  movement  in  its  inception 


PLANTING  THE  CHURCH  327 

had  a  marked  infusion  of  the  joyous  spirit  of  the 
Renaissance,  of  which  indeed  it  was  intellectually 
a  derivative.  The  Puritan  gentry  united  the 
elegance  of  Elizabethan  culture  with  a  keen  ap- 
preciation of  the  Biblical  scholarship  that  was 
exposing  as  unwarranted  the  episcopal  juris- 
diction against  which  there  were  strong  practical 
grievances.  Hallam's  Constitutional  History 
remarks  that  "the  Puritans,  or  at  least  those  who 
rather  favored  them,  had  a  majority  among  the 
Protestant  gentry  in  the  Queen's  [Elizabeth] 
days,"  and  "they  predominated  in  the  House  of 
Commons."  Puritanism  was  a  spirit  of  resis- 
tance to  current  pretensions  of  high  prerogative 
in  both  Church  and  State,  in  natural  association 
with  demands  for  such  reforms  in  both  those 
spheres  of  government  as  would  establish  con- 
stitutional order.  There  was  originally  nothing 
narrow  or  ascetic  in  Puritanism.  The  strength 
of  the  movement  that  thwarted  the  strivings  of 
James  I.  toward  absolute  dominion  in  Church 
and  State  was  in  the  country  gentry,  a  pleasure- 
loving  class.  The  biography  of  Colonel  Hutchin- 
son gives  the  portrait  of  a  Puritan  gentleman  of 
the  original  type.  He  was  fond  of  painting, 
sculpture  and  all  liberal  arts;  was  devoted  to 
gardening  and  gave  much  attention  to  the  im- 
provement of  his  grounds ;  he  had  a  great  love  for 
music,  and  often  played  upon  the  violin. 


328  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN    AMERICA 

"Presbyterian"  was  originally  synonymous 
with  "Puritan,"  because  the  term  denoted  the  his- 
torical theory  which  Puritanism  advanced  in 
opposition  to  the  current  claims  of  episcopal 
authority.  The  theory  asserted  the  parity  of 
presbyters  and  denied  that  the  bishopric  was  a 
distinct  and  superior  order.  Originally  this  doc- 
trine was  advanced  as  a  principle  of  reform  within 
the  Church,  and  not  as  the  mark  of  a  particular 
denomination,  as  it  has  since  become.  In  Chapter 
III.  of  this  work  it  was  noted  that  the  early  Pres- 
byterian preachers  in  Ulster  accepted  a  Presby- 
terian form  of  episcopal  ordination,  and  sat  in 
convocation  with  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of 
Ireland.  At  that  time  one  could  be  a  Puritan,  a 
Presbyterian  and  a  Churchman.  At  a  later 
period,  when  the  Presbyterian  order  had  been 
overthrown  by  the  Independents,  the  Presby- 
terian clergy  of  Ulster  denounced  the  revolution 
and  became  a  mark  for  the  scurrilous  invective  of 
John  Milton.  The  Independent  sects  which 
through  Cromwell's  military  supremacy  obtained 
a  temporary  control  of  the  Government  of  Eng- 
land also  took  to  themselves  the  term  of  "Puri- 
tan," associating  it  with  austere  behavior,  while 
"Presbyterian"  became  the  title  of  a  particular 
Church,  which  was  Established  in  Scotland,  but 
which  in  England  and  Ireland  was  a  form  of 
dissent  from  the  Established  Church, 


PLANTING  THE  CHURCH  329 

Puritanism  then  originally  signified  hardly 
more  than  the  championship  of  constitutional 
order  and  opposition  to  absolutism  in  Church  and 
State.  Like  all  opposition  parties  it  embraced 
various  elements  that  in  course  of  time  came  to 
differ  in  their  particular  aims  and  methods.  The 
intellectual  ferment  of  the  times  produced  doc- 
trines and  principles  at  variance  with  Presby- 
terianism,  and  eventually  sects  claimed  the  name 
of  "Puritan"  that  had  little  in  common  with 
original  Puritanism.  The  term  has  become  so 
amplified  that  now  any  denomination  that  dates 
from  the  Puritan  period  is  apt  to  lay  claim  to 
Puritan  ancestry  and  include  Puritan  achieve- 
ment in  its  denominational  history. 

Puritanism  as  a  doctrine  of  Church  polity  had 
a  following  that  extended  far  beyond  the 
bounds  of  English  Puritanism.  As  is  well 
known,  the  doctrine  received  its  most  logical  and 
authoritative  exposition  from  the  French  theolo- 
gian John  Calvin,  who  was  settled  in  Geneva, 
Switzerland.  Presbyterian  sentiment  flowed  into 
America  from  many  sources,  so  that  an  exami- 
nation of  the  beginnings  of  American  Presby- 
terianism  must  consider  many  elements.  But  if 
the  inquiry  be  narrowed  to  the  question  of  the 
corporate  derivation  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  the  United  States,  the  evidence  points  un- 
mistakably to  Ulster  as  the  source. 


330  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

In  Chapter  V.  some  account  was  given  of  the 
reasons  why  Puritan  migration  to  America  took 
place  more  readily  among  the  Independents  than 
among  the  Presbyterians.  Hence  that  particu- 
lar element  among  the  Puritans  heavily  predomi- 
nated in  the  settlement  of  New  England;  but 
there  was  a  Presbyterian  element  in  Puritan  mi- 
gration, and  it  was  strongly  evident  even  in  New 
England.  It  is  estimated  that  about  21,200  emi- 
grants arrived  in  New  England  before  1640,  and 
according  to  Cotton  Mather  about  4,000  of  them 
were  Presbyterians.  Calvinists  from  Holland 
and  France  brought  Presbyterianism  with  them 
to  America,  as  well  as  the  immigrants  from  Ire- 
land, Scotland  and  England.  Germs  of  Presby- 
terianism were  strewn  throughout  the  colonies  as 
far  south  as  the  Carolinas,  and  some  isolated  con- 
gregations were  formed  at  a  very  early  date. 
But  while  Presbyterianism  was  thus  diffused  by 
many  rills  the  organization  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  the  United  States  was  the  particular 
achievement  of  the  Scotch-Irish  element. 

Although  evidence  of  record  is  meager,  there 
is  enough  to  establish  a  direct  connection  between 
Ulster  and  the  formation  of  the  first  American 
Presbytery.  In  Chapter  V.  mention  was  made  of 
the  Scotch-Irish  settlements  on  the  Chesapeake 
Bay  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  of  their  call  to  Ulster  for  ministerial 


PLANTING  THE  CHURCH  331 

supplies.  Francis  Makemie,  who  went  to  Mary- 
land in  response  to  this  call,  organized  the  first 
American  Presbytery.  About  that  time  the 
Presbyterians  were  hard  pressed  by  an  energetic 
movement  started  in  1701  to  build  up  the  Church 
of  England  in  the  colonies.  Makemie,  who  had 
been  long  in  the  American  field,  went  to  London 
in  the  summer  of  1704,  and  appealed  to  the 
Presbyterian  and  Puritan  leaders  for  men  and 
funds  to  sustain  them.  Support  was  pledged  for 
two  missionaries  for  two  years,  and  Makemie  re- 
turned to  America  with  two  young  ministers, 
John  Hampton,  who  like  Makemie  himself 
prepared  for  the  ministry  under  the  supervision 
of  Laggan  Presbytery,  and  George  McNish,  who 
was  doubtless  a  Scotsman  as  no  nationality  is 
specified  in  the  record  of  his  admission  to  the 
University  of  Glasgow  and  that  was  the  custom 
in  case  of  students  from  Scotland.  The  three  ar- 
rived in  Maryland  in  1705,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1706  they  united  with  Jedediah  Andrews,  John 
Wilson,  Nathaniel  Taylor  and  Samuel  Davis, 
four  ministers  already  at  work  in  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware  and  Maryland,  to  form  the  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia.  Andrews  came  to  Phila- 
delphia from  Boston  in  1698  and  appears  to  have 
been  ordained  in  Philadelphia  in  1701.  Wilson 
came  from  Boston  to  Newcastle,  Del.,  in  1698. 
Taylor  was  minister  to  the   Presbyterians  on 


332  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  Patuxent  River,  Md.  The  date  when  his 
ministry  began  and  his  derivation  are  uncertain, 
but  Dr.  Briggs  thinks  it  most  likely  that  he  came 
from  New  England.  Davis  was  settled  at 
Lewes,  Del.,  prior  to  1692,  and  was  probably  an 
Irish  Presbyterian.  The  membership  of  the 
Presbytery  was  therefore  pretty  evenly  divided 
between  Irish  Presbyterians  and  New  England 
Presbyterians,  but  the  formative  influence  un- 
doubtedly proceeded  from  the  Scotch-Irish  mis- 
sionary Makemie.  The  organization  affected 
was  Scotch-Irish  in  type.  The  analysis  made  by 
Dr.  Briggs  brings  this  out  clearly.  After  de- 
scribing the  organization  of  the  Ulster  Pres- 
byteries, he  observes:  "The  first  American 
classical  Presbytery  was  such  an  Irish  meeting  of 
ministers,  but  without  subordination  to  a  higher 
body.  ...  It  was  very  different  from  a  West- 
minster classical  Presbytery,  or  a  Presbytery  of 
the  Kirk  of  Scotland."  Makemie  writing  about 
the  Presbytery  said  that  among  its  rules  was  one 
"prescribing  texts  to  be  preached  on  by  two  of 
our  number  at  every  meeting,  which  performance 
is  subject  to  the  censure  of  our  brethren."  Dr. 
Briggs  remarks:  "This  also  was  an  Irish  cus- 
tom. The  records  of  the  early  Irish  Presbyteries 
contain  frequent  references  to  it." 

At  that  time  Presbyterianism  was  weak  in 
Philadelphia,  and  it  remained  so  until  the  great 


PLANTING  THE  CHURCH  333 

Scotch-Irish  immigration  poured  Presbyterian- 
ism  into  the  country  and  the  preaching  of  George 
Whitefleld  gave  a  marked  impetus  to  religious 
zeal.  When  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  was 
organized  only  one  member  was  settled  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  so  far  as  the  composition  of  the 
membership  was  concerned  the  Presbytery  might 
well  have  had  another  location  and  another  name. 
But  sound  strategic  reasons  controlled  the  choice. 
George  Keith,  once  a  zealous  Quaker,  but  who 
had  become  quite  as  zealous  a  Church  of  Eng- 
land man,  had  made  Philadelphia  the  base  of  a 
controversial  activity  that  took  a  wide  range. 
In  1692  Keith  visited  Makemie's  parish  on  the 
Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia  and  challenged  him  to 
a  public  disputation.  There  was  a  forward  move- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  Church  of  England  all 
along  the  line,  and  Puritans  of  every  sort,  Pres- 
byterian or  Congregational,  were  impressed 
with  the  necessity  of  energetic  action  for  the  com- 
mon defense.  New  England  Congregationalists 
and  English,  Scotch  and  Irish  Presbyterians  co- 
operated in  this  crisis.  The  organization  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  was  a  stroke  in  the 
Puritan  interest.  Soon  after  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Presbytery  Makemie  wrote  to  Dr.  Benja- 
min Coleman  of  Boston,  March  28,  1707:  "Our 
design  is  to  meet  yearly,  and  oftener  if  necessary, 
to  consult  the  most  proper  measures  for  advanc- 


334  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ing  religion  and  propagating  Christianity  in  our 
various  stations."  The  results  of  this  action  were 
of  profound  importance.  Dr.  Briggs  says  of  the 
work  of  Makemie  and  his  associates  : 

"They  organized  an  institution  which  was 
a  rallying  point  for  Presbyterianism  in  the 
Middle  States.  It  enabled  them  to  license 
and  ordain  their  ministers  in  a  regular  man- 
ner; it  enabled  them  to  cooperate  with  the 
organized  forces  of  Puritanism  and  Pres- 
byterianism in  all  parts  of  the  world ;  it  was 
a  master  stroke  of  wise  policy  which  now 
gave  Presbyterianism  an  advantage  over 
Episcopacy,  in  spite  of  the  strong  influences 
and  active  oppression  by  the  authorities  in 
Church  and  State." 

An  incident  occurring  immediately  after  the 
first  meeting  of  the  first  American  Presbytery 
showed  that  organization  for  the  common  wel- 
fare was  the  urgent  need  of  the  non-conformists. 
After  the  adjournment  of  the  Presbytery,  Oc- 
tober 27,  1706,  Makemie  and  John  Hampton 
set  out  on  a  journey  to  Boston,  probably  to  con- 
sult with  the  Puritan  ministers  there.  On  the 
way  they  stopped  in  New  York,  and  preached 
in  that  city  and  on  Long  Island.  Both  were  ar- 
rested on  a  charge  of  preaching  without  license. 
The  charge  against  Hampton  was  not  pressed, 
but  Makemie  had  to  sustain  trial.  He  was  de- 
fended by  three  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the 
Province,  and  was  acquitted  on  the  ground  that 


PLANTING  THE  CHURCH  335 

he  had  complied  with  the  Toleration  Act ;  but  the 
costs  of  the  trial  were  thrown  upon  him,  amount- 
ing to  £83,  7s.,  6d.  The  affair  outraged  Puritan 
sentiment  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  Feeling 
against  Governor  Cornbury  of  New  York  was 
so  strong  owing  to  this  and  other  arbitrary  ac- 
tion that  in  April,  1707,  the  New  York  Assembly 
made  a  strong  indictment  of  his  administration. 
He  was  eventually  recalled  by  the  home  Govern- 
ment and  his  successor  took  office  in  1709. 

The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  was  the  centre 
from  which  the  organization  of  American  Pres- 
byterianism  proceeded.  In  1716  the  Presbytery 
had  grown  so  that  it  divided  itself  into  subordi- 
nate meetings  or  Presbyteries,  three  in  number 
at  first,  with  expectations  soon  realized  of  a 
fourth,  organized  on  Long  Island.  These  Pres- 
byteries were  represented  in  the  first  American 
Synod,  which  met  in  1717.  At  the  first  meet- 
ing of  this  Synod  a  "fund  for  pious  uses"  was 
founded,  and  Jedediah  Andrews  was  appointed 
treasurer.  Dr.  Briggs  remarked  that  "this  was 
the  basis  of  all  the  schemes  of  missionary  enter- 
prise which  have  arisen  from  time  to  time  in  the 
American  Presbyterian  Church." 

An  instance  of  Scotch-Irish  pugnacity  is  fur- 
nished by  the  struggle  of  1741  over  some  points 
of  doctrine,  discipline  and  practice  which  it  does 
not  lie  within  the  province  of  this  work  to  dis- 


336  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

cuss.  From  the  accounts  given  by  Church  his- 
torians it  appears  that  an  energetic  minority, 
only  twelve  in  number,  got  control  of  the  Synod, 
the  membership  of  which  was  four  times  their 
number.  Dr.  Briggs  says  that  the  twelve  were 
all  Irishmen  with  the  possible  exception  of  one, 
whose  nativity  is  uncertain.  Seven  belonged  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Donegal.  One  result  of  this 
struggle  was  the  organization  of  the  Synod  of 
New  York,  with  three  Presbyteries,  New  York, 
New  Brunswick  and  New  Castle.  The  two 
Synods  remained  separate  until  1758,  when  they 
were  united  as  the  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia.  In  1788  this  great  Synod  organ- 
ized the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  the  first  session  of  which  was  held  in 
Philadelphia  in  May,  1789.  This  was  the  con- 
summation of  the  work  of  organization  begun  by 
the  Scotch-Irishman  Francis  Makemie  in  1706. 

Thus  it  appears  that  both  in  historical  connec- 
tion and  in  nature  of  organization  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  was  a  Scotch- 
Irish  enterprise.  Still  another  mark  of  Scotch- 
Irish  influence  is  the  name  borne  by  early  Pres- 
byteries. In  or  about  1729  the  first  New  Eng- 
land Presbytery  was  organized,  and  was  named 
Londonderry.  In  1732  Donegal  Presbytery 
was  formed,  with  such  an  extensive  area  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  Maryland  that  from  it  other  large 


PLANTING  THE  CHURCH  337 

Presbyteries  eventually  issued,  Carlisle  in  1765 
and  Baltimore  in  1786.  From  place  names  alone, 
the  historian  could  infer  that  Scotch-Irish  in- 
fluence was  active  in  the  American  colonies  from 
about  1715,  but  fortunately  many  records  remain 
of  ministerial  supplies  furnished  by  Ulster,  that 
were  of  illustrious  service  in  planting  religion  and 
in  spreading  learning  and  culture. 


CHAPTER  XII 

On  Stony  Ground 

Some  account  has  already  been  given  of  the 
earliest  arrivals  of  Scotch-Irish  ministers,  in  con- 
nection with  the  Chesapeake  Bay  settlement. 
Ministerial  activity  next  becomes  noticeable  in 
New  England  immigration.  In  October,  1714, 
the  Rev.  William  Homes  and  his  brother-in-law, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Craighead,  with  their  families 
arrived  in  Boston  from  Londonderry.  Mr. 
Homes  was  born  in  1663  of  an  old  Ulster  family, 
and  went  to  New  England  about  1686  as  a  school 
teacher.  A  desire  to  enter  the  ministry  caused 
him  to  return  to  Ireland,  and  at  the  meeting  of 
Laggan  Presbytery  in  1692  he  was  reported  as 
"on  trial  to  ordination."  He  was  ordained  De- 
cember 21,  1692,  as  pastor  at  Strabane.  He  re- 
ceived the  M.A.  degree  from  the  University  of 
Edinburgh  in  1693.  On  September  26,  1693,  he 
married  Katherine,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Robert 
Craighead  of  Londonderry.  When  he  emi- 
grated to  America  he  was  over  fifty  years  old, 
and  had  had  ten  children.  He  was  a  man  of 
note  and  consequence  in  the  Irish  Church  and 

338 


ON  STONY  GROUND  339 

was  elected  Moderator  of  the  General  Synod  that 
met  at  Belfast  in  1708.  His  knowledge  of  ad- 
ministration incited  him  to  publish  Proposals 
of  Some  Things  to  be  done  in  our  Administring 
Ecclesiastical  Government,  printed  at  Boston  in 
1732.  Mr.  Homes  settled  at  Chilmark,  in  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard,  where  he  remained  until  his 
death,  June  27,  1746,  in  his  eighty-fourth  year. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Craighead  came  of  distinguished 
Scotch-Irish  stock.  He  was  graduated  at  the 
University  of  Edinburgh  as  Scoto-Hibernus,  De- 
cember 10,  1691,  and  became  pastor  of  Dearg, 
in  the  Presbytery  of  Convoy,  Ireland.  On  May 
3,  1715,  the  Presbytery  approved  his  demission 
from  the  congregation  of  Dearg,  and  gave  him  a 
testimonial  to  go  to  America.  The  Synod  cen- 
sured the  Presbytery  for  not  acting  with  greater 
deliberation.  This  minister,  whom  the  Scotch- 
Irish  church  was  so  loath  to  lose,  did  not  at  first 
meet  with  favorable  acceptance  in  America.  He 
settled  at  Freetown,  Mass.,  where  the  support  he 
received  was  so  inadequate  that  he  petitioned  the 
General  Court  for  assistance.  In  June,  1718,  he 
was  allowed  ten  pounds  for  six  months  services. 
In  1719  he  appealed  to  the  Justices  of  the  Peace 
for  Bristol  County,  and  at  the  Court  of  General 
Sessions  the  town  was  ordered  to  lay  a  rate  for 
his  support.  There  was  a  violent  resistance  to 
this  measure,  many  refused  to  pay,  and  some 


340  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

were  imprisoned.  A  petition  went  up  to  the 
General  Court,  which  on  June  19,  1719,  ordered 
that  the  prisoners  should  be  liberated,  the  rate  be 
annulled  and  Craighead's  election  as  minister  of 
Freetown  should  be  void.  Craighead  then  peti- 
tioned for  relief,  setting  forth  that  he  had  served 
for  four  and  a  half  years,  and  had  received  no 
pay  for  three  years.  In  December  the  General 
Court  granted  him  twenty  pounds.  Craighead 
then  left  Freetown,  but  was  unable  to  settle  him- 
self in  New  England.  He  joined  New  Castle 
Presbytery,  January  28,  1724.  This  was  the 
opening  of  a  new  career  whose  lustre  made 
amends  for  his  unfortunate  New  England  ex- 
perience. On  February  22,  1724,  he  was  in- 
stalled pastor  of  the  church  at  White  Clay  Creek, 
in  Delaware.  He  labored  in  that  region  for 
seven  years  greatly  promoting  the  spread  of 
Presbyterianism  by  his  eloquence  and  zeal.  In 
1733  he  moved  to  Lancaster,  Pa.,  and  joined 
Donegal  Presbytery.  He  was  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Pequea  from  October  31,  1733,  thence 
he  went  to  Hopewell,  within  the  bounds  of  the 
present  town  of  Newville,  a  few  miles  west  of 
Harrisburg.  It  was  a  frontier  settlement,  pre- 
senting a  difficult  post  for  an  old  man  to  fill,  but 
he  was  now  at  the  close  of  his  career.  He  died  in 
the  pulpit  in  April,  1739,  just  as  he  had  pro- 
nounced the  benediction. 


ON  STONY  GROUND  341 

Father  Craighead,  as  he  was  generally  known 
in  Pennsylvania,  was  progenitor  of  families 
prominent  in  southern  and  western  Presbyterian- 
ism.  One  son,  Thomas,  born  in  1702,  married 
Margaret,  daughter  of  George  Brown,  London- 
derry, Ireland,  and  coming  to  America,  became  a 
farmer  at  White  Clay  Creek,  Del.  Another  son, 
Alexander,  became  an  eloquent  minister  whose 
stirring  activities  were  exerted  in  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  Jane,  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Craighead,  married, 
October  23,  1725,  the  Rev.  Adam  Boyd,  pastor 
of  a  church  at  the  Forks  of  the  Brandywine. 

The  difficulties  which  Mr.  Craighead  experi- 
enced in  Massachusetts  are  said  to  have  been 
largely  due  to  a  contentious  disposition,  but  it 
is  difficult  to  reconcile  this  opinion  with  the  judg- 
ment of  him  expressed  by  Cotton  Mather  in  a 
letter  written  July  21,  1719,  to  a  leader  of  the 
opposition  to  Craighead.  Mather  said:  "Mr. 
Craighead  is  a  man  of  singular  piety  and  humil- 
ity and  meekness,  and  patience  and  self  denial 
and  industry  in  the  work  of  God.  All  that  are 
acquainted  with  him,  have  a  precious  esteem  of 
him." 

While  this  particular  controversy  may  have 
been  aggravated  by  personal  differences  (John 
Hathaway,  a  kinsman,  was  conspicuous  among 
the  minister's  enemies)  yet  the  underlying  causes 


342  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

were  such  as  to  make  it  symptomatic  of  condi- 
tions unfavorable  to  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian- 
ism  in  New  England.  The  Independents  were 
virtually  an  Established  Church.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  common  Puritanism  of  both  Independ- 
ents and  Presbyterians,  and  the  sympathetic 
attitude  of  leading  clergymen  in  both  parties,  the 
differences  in  order  and  discipline  were  bound  to 
tell.  The  seat  of  authority  in  the  Presbyterian 
polity  is  the  council  of  presbyters  and  elders  of 
the  member  congregations.  This  implies  the 
existence  of  ecclesiastical  units  as  a  condition  pre- 
cedent. An  isolated  body  is  practically  a  Congre- 
gational church,  and  as  Presbyterianism  entered 
New  England  it  found  a  Congregational  field  in 
which  its  adherents  could  feel  at  home.  On  the 
other  hand,  attempts  at  separate  organization 
would  raise  practical  difficulties  as  regards  the 
support  of  the  Church.  At  that  time  it  was  con- 
sidered entirely  proper  to  levy  taxes  for  ecclesi- 
astical use.  Originally  among  the  New  England 
Puritans  the  town  meeting  was  virtually  the  con- 
gregation in  session  upon  public  business,  an 
integral  part  of  which  was  care  of  the  meeting- 
house and  the  support  of  the  minister.  So  the 
planting  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  would  raise 
the  question  for  the  Congregationalists  whether 
provision  for  its  support  should  be  included  in 
the    town    rates,    and    for    the    Presbyterians, 


ON  STONY  GROUND  343 

whether  they  should  have  to  pay  a  town  rate  for 
public  worship  while  providing  for  themselves  at 
their  own  expense.  It  is  pretty  clear  that  diffi- 
culties of  this  nature  inflamed  the  situation  with 
which  Craighead  had  to  deal  at  Freetown,  and 
were  too  much  for  him,  notwithstanding  his 
eloquence,  zeal  and  fortitude.  Removed  to 
Pennsylvania,  his  qualities  were  such  as  to  secure 
for  him  an  illustrious  and  fruitful  career. 

At  the  same  time  that  Craighead  was  having 
his  troubles  at  Freetown  there  was  an  event  at 
Worcester  significant  of  the  clash  of  interests 
that  retarded  Presbyterianism  in  New  England. 
The  Scotch-Irish  immigrants  who  settled  in 
Worcester  were  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  Ed- 
ward Fitzgerald,  whose  antecedents  have  not 
been  traced.  They  began  to  erect  a  building 
of  their  own,  but  one  night  a  crowd  of  towns- 
people destroyed  the  framework.  According  to 
local  historians  Deacon  Daniel  Heywood  of  the 
Congregational  Church  encouraged  the  attack, 
and  the  "best  people  in  town"  were  present. 
The  explanation  of  this  outburst  is  that  the 
people  did  not  want  to  have  to  support  two 
Churches  when  one  would  suffice  for  all.  The 
affair  was  a  crushing  blow  to  the  Presbyterian 
interest.  The  settlers  clung  to  their  own  form 
of  worship,  some  going  to  Sutton  to  be  under  the 
Rev.  John  McKinstry,  who  began  his  ministry 


344  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

there  about  1720;  some  removing  to  London- 
derry in  New  Hampshire.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Fitz- 
gerald departed  when  it  was  found  that  no 
regular  place  of  worship  could  be  had,  but  he 
returned  occasionally  to  preach,  and  there  is  men- 
tion of  his  presence  as  late  as  1729. 

Some  years  later  another  attempt  was  made 
to  establish  a  Presbyterian  Church  and  a  call  was 
sent  to  the  Rev.  William  Johnston  of  Mullagh- 
moyle,  County  Tyrone,  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh.  In  1737  John  Clark  and 
nine  others  petitioned  the  town  to  free  them  from 
taxation  for  religious  purposes.  It  is  recorded 
that  "ye  Irish  petition"  was  voted  down  by  "a 
grate  majority."  The  point  of  the  application 
was  that  the  petitioners  wanted  to  be  rid  of  the 
burden  of  contributing  to  the  support  of  the 
established  Congregational  Church,  in  addition  to 
supporting  their  own  Presbyterian  Church. 
Johnston,  unable  to  maintain  himself  in  Worces- 
ter, removed  to  Windham,  N.  H.,  where  in  July, 
1742,  he  became  the  first  minister  of  the  town. 
In  July,  1752,  the  poverty  of  the  parish  forced 
him  to  withdraw,  and  he  went  into  the  State  of 
New  York,  where  he  held  a  number  of  charges 
and  gave  years  of  service  before  his  death,  May 
10,  1782,  in  Florida,  Montgomery  County. 

A  still  more  violent  clash  between  Presbyterian 
tendency  and  the  established  Congregationalism 


ON  STONY  GROUND  345 

occurred  in  Connecticut  in  or  about  1741.  In 
Milford,  New  Haven  County,  some  people  re- 
volted against  the  doctrinal  views  of  the  town 
minister,  and  formed  a  Presbyterian  congrega- 
tion which  sent  a  call  to  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley. 
For  the  offense  of  preaching  to  them,  Mr.  Finley 
was  arrested  and  sentenced  to  be  transported  out 
of  the  colony  as  a  vagrant  and  a  disturber  of  the 
public  peace.  Mr.  Finley  eventually  became 
President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

Although  Presbyterianism  was  checked  in  New 
England,  there  were  no  theological  barriers  to 
the  incorporation  of  the  Scotch-Irish  in  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  and  that  is  what  generally 
took  place.  The  seating  lists  of  the  Worcester 
Congregational  Church  for  1733  have  been  pre- 
served and  show  many  Scotch-Irish  names. 
What  probably  happened  is  that  the  Scotch-Irish 
became  enrolled  in  the  local  Puritan  congrega- 
tion and  as  such  were  members  of  the  Church 
and  of  the  town  meeting,  although  gathering  for 
church  services  of  their  own  when  some  Presby- 
terian minister  visited  the  community.  A  like 
process  doubtless  went  on  in  other  places.  For 
instance,  James  Smith,  who  settled  in  Needham, 
Mass.,  is  thus  mentioned  in  the  record  of  the 
Congregational  Church  of  that  town: 


346  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

"Jan.  9,  1726— James  Smith  &  Mary  his 
Wife,  admitted  into  the  Church,  came  from 
Ireland  A.  D.  1718,  &  Brought  a  Testimon- 
ial with  them  from  Mr  John  Stirling,  Min- 
ister of  the  Congregation  of  Ballykelly  in 
the  County  of  Londonderry." 

Thus  Scotch-Irish  emigration  to  New  Eng- 
land tended  rather  to  furnish  recruits  to  Con- 
gregationalism than  to  spread  Presbyterianism. 
The  ministers,  too,  apparently  found  it  hard  to 
preserve  their  Ulster  type  of  organization  in  a 
land  without  Presbyteries  or  Synods,  and  they 
allowed  themselves  to  be  converted  into  Congre- 
gational ministers,  a  process  that  not  only  was 
without  theological  shock  but  made  little 
practical  difference  in  the  status  of  a  particular 
congregation. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  Ulster  immigra- 
tion to  New  England  in  1718  was  promoted  and 
attended  by  ministers.  The  five  ships  that  ar- 
rived in  August,  1718,  brought  among  their 
passengers  the  Rev.  William  Boyd,  of  Macos- 
quin,  Londonderry,  and  the  Rev.  James  Mc- 
Gregor, of  Aghadowey,  a  neighboring  village. 
Boyd  came  rather  as  a  guide  than  as  an  emi- 
grant and  he  returned  to  Ireland ;  McGregor  in- 
tended to  remain.  His  charge  at  Aghadowey 
was  unable  to  support  him,  and  eighty  pounds 
were  due  him  at  the  time  of  his  departure.  Lit- 
tle is  known  of  Mr.  McGregor's  antecedents, 


ON  STONY  GROUND  347 

but  it  is  thought  that  he  came  from  the  Scotch 
Highlands,  inasmuch  as  he  had  such  a  knowl- 
edge of  Celtic  that  he  took  a  leading  part  in 
missions  organized  for  work  among  Celtic 
speaking  people.  He  was  ordained  at  Agha- 
dowey  June  25,  1701.  He  arrived  in  Boston 
August  4,  1718.  The  records  show  a  blot  upon 
his  career  of  a  sort  likely  to  occur  at  that 
period.  It  was  an  age  of  hard  drinking  among 
all  classes  of  people.  In  1704  McGregor  was 
admonished  before  the  Ulster  Synod  for  his  be- 
havior in  having  taken  several  cans  of  ale  at 
Coleraine,  when,  as  he  admitted,  "less  might  have 
served."  But  the  charge  of  drunkenness  was 
declared  to  be  not  proven,  and  except  for  that 
one  affair  he  appears  to  have  led  an  exemplary 
life. 

Cotton  Mather,  after  two  months  of  inter- 
course, exerted  himself  to  obtain  employment  for 
McGregor,  writing  of  him  as  "a  person  of  a  very 
excellent  character:  and  considerably  qualified 
for  the  work  of  ye  ministry  as  well  for  his  min- 
isterial abilities,  as  his  Christian  piety,  serious 
gravity,  and  as  far  as  we  have  heard,  every  way 
unexceptionable  Behaviour."  Upon  Mather's 
recommendation  the  town  of  Dracut,  a  little 
north  of  the  present  city  of  Lowell,  gave  Mc- 
Gregor a  trial.  It  makes  rather  a  strong  sug- 
gestion that  even  at  that  early  period  the  min- 


348  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

isterial  profession  was  overcrowded  when  it 
appears  that  McGregor  was  chosen  from  among 
some  fifteen  candidates  for  the  place.  In  town 
meeting  on  October  15,  1718,  it  was  voted  that 
Mr.  McGregor  should  be  invited  "to  settle  in 
Dracut  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  do  the  whole 
work  of  a  settled  minister"  at  a  stipend  of  £65 
a  year,  rising  to  .£70  after  four  years,  and  until 
there  should  be  fifty  families  in  the  town,  when 
the  amount  should  be  increased  to  £80.  Mc- 
Gregor accepted  the  call  and  in  addition  to  his 
work  as  pastor  taught  the  village  school. 

In  this  there  is  no  mark  of  gain  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  A  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian 
minister  had  been  settled  as  a  Congregationalist 
minister  in  a  Massachusetts  town;  that  appears 
to  be  all.  There  is  no  evidence  that  any  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  who  landed  in  Boston  with  Mc- 
Gregor accompanied  him  to  Dracut.  The  mass 
of  them  were  at  that  time  looking  forward  to  a 
collective  occupation  of  new  territory,  and  this 
desire  was  before  long  realized  in  the  settlement 
of  Nutfield  subsequently  known  as  Londonderry. 
This  place,  although  in  New  Hampshire,  is  not 
very  far  north  of  Dracut,  and  a  number  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  settlers  stopped  at  Dracut  on  their 
way.  They  induced  McGregor  to  go  with  them, 
and  the  first  religious  services  in  the  new  settle- 
ment were  conducted  by  him.    It  says  much  for 


ON  STONY  GROUND  349 

McGregor's  constancy  to  his  people  that  as  soon 
as  they  were  thoroughly  established  in  their  new 
home  he  gave  up  his  secure  position  at  Dracut  to 
join  them.  He  settled  in  Londonderry  in  May, 
1719,  and  died  there  on  March  5,  1729,  leaving  a 
widow  and  seven  children.  One  of  the  sons, 
David,  became  famous  as  a  Presbyterian  leader, 
through  his  ability  as  a  preacher  and  as  a  contro- 
versialist. The  widow,  Mary  Ann  McGregor, 
was  married,  January  9,  1733,  to  the  Rev.  Mat- 
thew Clark,  McGregor's  successor  at  London- 
derry. Clark  came  to  America  from  Ireland  in 
1729  with  credentials  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Coleraine. 

In  1719,  the  Rev.  James  Woodside  arrived  in 
Maine  with  some  Ulster  emigrants  who  settled 
at  Merrymeeting  Bay,  but  Woodside  remained 
behind  in  Falmouth  with  his  family,  probably 
awaiting  more  settled  conditions.  The  people  at 
Brunswick,  Me.,  at  a  town  meeting  November  3, 
1718,  called  him  as  pastor  at  a  stipend  of  forty 
pounds  a  year.  Apparently  he  did  not  get  on 
well  with  his  parishioners.  In  May,  1719,  the 
town  meeting  voted  to  continue  his  services  for 
six  months  "provided  those  of  us  who  are  Dis- 
satisfied with  his  Conversation  (as  afore  Said) 
Can  by  Treating  with  him  as  becomes  Christians 
receive  Such  Satisfaction  from  him  as  that  they 
will  Heare  him  preach  for  ye  Time  Aforesd." 


350  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

The  town  voted  on  September  10,  1719,  to  dis- 
miss him,  and  not  long  thereafter  he  returned  to 
Boston.  In  a  letter  of  January  25,  1720,  Cotton 
Mather  writes  that  "poor  Mr.  Woodside,  after 
many  and  grievous  calamities  in  this  uneasy 
country,  is  this  week  taking  ship  for  London." 

There  is  a  local  tradition  to  the  effect  that 
Woodside  was  disliked  by  some  for  not  being 
sufficiently  Puritanical,  and  this  appears  to  have 
been  a  reproach  brought  against  the  Scotch- Irish 
clergy  as  a  class.  In  a  letter  written  to  a  friend 
in  Scotland  Cotton  Mather  spoke  of  them  as 
having  an  "expression  full  of  levity  not  usual 
among  our  ministers."  It  is  evident  that  Puri- 
tanism had  by  this  time  come  to  connote  austere 
manner  and  repressed  behavior.  That  Puritan- 
ism should  take  this  turn  among  the  Independ- 
ents instead  of  among  Presbyterians  exemplifies 
the  familiar  principle  that  custom  is  more  exact- 
ing than  law.  Presbyterians  had  a  systematized 
authority  within  whose  bounds  they  were  at  ease. 
The  Independents  rejected  systematized  author- 
ity but  custom  established  a  formal  pattern  of 
behavior,  from  which  it  was  dangerous  for  min- 
isters to  deviate. 

The  Rev.  James  Hillhouse  was  born  about 
1688  at  Freehall,  County  Londonderry.  He 
studied  divinity  at  Glasgow  and  was  ordained  by 
Derry  Presbytery  October  15,  1718.    He  came 


ON  STONY  GROUND  351 

to  America  in  1720  and  in  1722  was  called  to  a 
church  in  the  second  parish  at  New  London, 
Conn.,  where  he  died  December  15,  1740.  Hill- 
house  came  of  a  distinguished  Ulster  family,  and 
he  founded  a  distinguished  American  family. 
His  grandfather,  Abraham  Hillhouse  of  Artkill, 
Londonderry,  was  in  the  famous  siege.  His 
father,  John  Hillhouse,  was  owner  of  a  large 
estate  known  as  Freehall.  James,  an  uncle  of 
the  emigrant,  was  Mayor  of  Londonderry  in 
1693.  A  son  of  the  Rev.  James  Hillhouse  was 
a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  a  grand- 
son was  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate, 
and  a  great-grandson  was  the  James  Abraham 
Hillhouse  who  was  famous  as  a  poet  in  the  first 
third  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Mrs.  Hillhouse  was  a  Mary  Fitch  of  a  family 
that  was  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  New 
England.  Her  second  husband  was  the  Rev. 
John  Owen  of  Groton,  Conn.,  whom  also  she 
survived,  and  she  married  the  Rev.  Samuel  Dor- 
rance,  who  like  her  first  husband,  was  an  Ulster 
clergyman.  Dorrance  was  registered  as  Scotch- 
Irish,  of  Glasgow  University  in  1709.  He  was 
licensed  by  Dumbarton  Presbytery  in  Scotland 
and  in  1719  was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Coleraine.  He  came  to  America  and  settled  at 
Voluntown,  now  Stirling,  Conn.,  together  with 
several  brothers  and  friends.     He  was  installed 


352  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

as  town  pastor  in  1723,  and  served  until  March 
5,  1771.  He  died  November  12,  1775,  at  the  age 
of  ninety,  leaving  a  large  family. 

The  early  arrivals  of  Scotch-Irish  appear  to 
have  gone  into  the  country,  but  later  the  flow 
made  deposits  in  Boston  and  in  connection  with 
these  a  notable  pastorate  was  created.  The  Rev. 
John  Moorhead,  son  of  a  farmer  at  Newton, 
near  Belfast,  was  born  there  in  1703.  He  was 
educated  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and 
upon  his  return  to  Newton  was  influenced  to  go 
to  America.  He  came  to  Boston  in  1727  and 
soon  began  services,  gathering  about  him  a  con- 
gregation which  was  known  as  the  "Church  of  the 
Presbyterian  Strangers."  He  was  ordained  as 
its  pastor,  March  30,  1730.  John  Little,  a 
market  gardener,  was  a  member  of  the  congrega- 
tion, and  for  several  years  services  were  held  in 
his  barn.  Eventually  Mr.  Little  conveyed  this 
barn  and  some  land  to  the  church,  and  in  1744  a 
building  was  erected  which  later  became  known 
as  the  Federal  Street  Church.  Mr.  Moorhead 
was  an  assiduous  pastor,  making  periodical 
visits  to  each  family  under  his  care,  to  converse 
with  the  parents,  catechize  children  and  servants, 
and  pray  with  the  household.  He  died  Decem- 
ber 2,  1773.  The  funeral  sermon  was  preached 
by  the  Rev.  David  McGregor  of  Londonderry. 

The   Scotch-Irish  settlements  on  the  Maine 


ON  STONY  GROUND  353 

coast  attracted  a  number  of  ministers  of  whom 
Woodside  and  Cornwall  have  already  been  men- 
tioned. The  Rev.  Hugh  Campbell,  who  ob- 
tained his  M.A.  degree  at  Edinburgh  in  1714, 
spent  a  year  at  Scarboro,  Me.,  in  1720,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Hugh  Henry  in  June, 
1722.  The  Rev.  Robert  Rutherford  came  over 
in  1729  and  preached  at  Bristol,  Nobleboro,  and 
Boothbay,  Me.  He  was  minister  at  Brunswick 
from  about  1735  to  1742,  and  died  at  Thomaston, 
October  18,  1756,  aged  sixty-eight.  The  Rev. 
Robert  Dunlap  was  born  in  County  Antrim  in 
August,  1715.  He  received  his  M.A.  degree  at 
Edinburgh  about  1734  and  emigrated  to  America 
in  1736.  In  December,  1746,  he  was  called  to 
Brunswick  and  preached  there  until  October, 
1760.    He  died  June  26,  1776. 

It  would  seem  that  so  large  a  migration  ac- 
companied by  so  many  ministers  should  have 
made  an  extensive  planting  of  Presbyterianism 
in  New  England,  and  so  it  did;  only  Presby- 
terianism did  not  seem  to  take  root  and  thrive, 
except  at  Londonderry  where  the  Scotch-Irish 
had  the  field  to  themselves.  As  the  settlement 
grew,  it  sent  out  colonies  and  in  this  way  a 
church  was  planted  at  Windham  in  1747 
and  at  Bedford  in  1757.  Another  colony  went 
to  Antrim  and  in  1775  formed  a  congregation 
that  was  organized  into  a  church  in  1778.     The 


354  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Scotch-Irish  settlements  on  the  Maine  coast 
were  not  so  fruitful.  Between  1745  and  1791 
churches  were  formed  at  Georgetown,  New- 
castle, Brunswick,  Boothbay,  Bristol,  Topshew, 
Warren,  Gray,  Canaan,  Turner  and  other 
places,  all  of  which  either  died  out  or  became 
C  ongr  egationalist . 

From  the  Londonderry  settlement  appears  to 
have  issued  the  first  New  England  Presbytery, 
constituted  in  or  about  1729,  by  James  Mc- 
Gregor of  Londonderry  and  Edward  Fitzgerald, 
together  with  LeMercier,  pastor  of  the  Hugue- 
not Church  at  Boston,  and  some  others.  The 
career  of  Londonderry  Presbytery  affords  an- 
other illustration  of  the  difficulties  occasioned  by 
the  contact  of  such  diverse  disciplines  as  Pres- 
byterianism  and  Independency.  On  March  30, 
1730,  it  ordained  John  Moorhead  to  the  charge 
of  the  Presbyterian  congregation  in  Boston. 
Thompson,  a  probationer  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Tyrone,  Ireland,  was  received  and  ordained  Oc- 
tober 10,  1733.  In  1736  the  Presbytery  was 
disrupted  by  a  struggle  over  the  admission  of 
the  Rev.  James  Hillhouse,  who  although  a  Pres- 
byterian, was  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  at  New  London,  Conn.  Only  five  minis- 
ters were  present  when  he  was  admitted  by  a 
majority  of  one  vote.  At  the  same  meeting  the 
Presbytery   ordained   David,   son   of  the   Rev. 


ON  STONY  GROUND  355 

James  McGregor.  Three  of  the  ministers  pres- 
ent protested  against  the  proceedings  as  unlaw- 
ful. At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Presbytery 
there  was  a  large  attendance  and  the  majority 
refused  to  recognize  Hillhouse  and  McGregor 
and  suspended  Joseph  Harvey  and  John  Moor- 
head,  who  had  voted  for  their  admission.  The 
effect  was  to  break  up  the  Presbytery. 

On  April  16,  1745,  Boston  Presbytery  was 
constituted  through  the  efforts  of  John  Moor- 
head,  David  McGregor  and  Robert  Abercrom- 
bie.  They  represented  the  party  that  had  been 
excluded  from  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry 
in  1736.  In  1768  they  had  grown  to  a  body  of 
twelve  members.  The  original  Presbytery  of 
Londonderry  appears  to  have  died  of  inanition 
through  the  scattering  of  its  members  and  ina- 
bility to  hold  sessions.  So  late  as  1771,  however, 
there  is  record  of  an  appeal  to  this  Presbytery 
with  reference  to  the  organization  of  a  Synod. 
Nothing  appears  to  have  come  of  it,  and  the 
Presbytery  was  probably  then  dead,  although  its 
name  had  survived.  The  Presbytery  of  Boston, 
however,  developed  such  strength  that  on  June 
2,  1775,  it  organized  as  a  Synod,  composed  of 
three  Presbyteries:  Newburyport  with  six  min- 
isters, Londonderry  with  four,  and  Palmer  with 
six;  in  all,  sixteen  ministers  and  twenty-five 
churches.     This  Synod  declined  to  receive  the 


356  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Presbytery  at  the  Eastward,  started  by  the  Rev. 
John  Murray  of  Boothbay,  Me.,  who  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
but  had  been  deposed  by  that  body.  There  was 
another  independent  Presbytery  of  Grafton, 
N.  H.,  constituted  by  Eleazar  Wheelock  and 
others.  The  strength  of  Presbyterianism  of 
New  England  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution- 
ary War  was  one  Synod  of  three  Presbyteries 
and  two  independent  Presbyteries.  Dr.  Briggs 
computes  that  these  five  had  in  all  thirty-two  min- 
isters, at  a  time  when  the  Synod  of  New  York 
and  Philadelphia  had  132  ministers  and  the  total 
number  of  Presbyterian  ministers  in  the  colonies 
was  186.  This  number  is  exclusive  of  the  Dutch, 
German  and  French  Reformed  Churches,  having 
the  same  polity  but  maintaining  their  separate 
organization.  It  is  computed  that  these  Re- 
formed Churches  had  sixty-one  ministers  in  1775. 
It  therefore  appears  that  notwithstanding  the 
early  start  of  Presbyterianism  in  New  England 
it  did  not  thrive  there.  Independency,  which 
had  overthrown  the  Presbyterian  order  in  Eng- 
land, clogged  its  introduction  in  New  England, 
and  although  New  England  obtained  increase  of 
population  from  Ulster,  Congregationalism  was 
a  greater  gainer  thereby  than  Presbyterianism. 
While  Presbyterianism  was  rapidly  spreading  in 
the  West  and  South,  the  New  England  field  was 


ON  STONY  GROUND  357 

for  the  most  part  resigned  to  the  Congregational 
variety  of  Puritanism.  The  common  ancestry  of 
the  two  denominations  was  however  kept  in  re- 
membrance, and  served  as  a  basis  for  fraternal 
association.  Through  the  efforts  of  the  Synod  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  a  convention  was 
held  at  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1766,  attended  by  delegates  from  the  Synod 
and  from  the  Consociated  Churches  of  Connecti- 
cut. It  was  decided  that  an  annual  convention 
should  be  held  to  which  all  the  Congregational, 
Consociated  and  Presbyterian  Churches  in 
North  America  should  be  invited  to  send  dele- 
gates. The  following  year  the  convention  met 
at  New  Haven,  and  at  that  convention  two  dele- 
gates from  Boston  Presbytery  were  present. 
Thereafter  the  convention  was  exclusively  com- 
posed of  delegates  from  the  Synod  and  the 
churches  of  Connecticut.  The  chief  motive  for 
the  formation  of  this  convention  was  opposition 
to  the  creation  of  an  American  episcopate. 
Hodge  observed  that  this  was  "the  great  and 
almost  the  only  subject  which  occupied  their  at- 
tention." The  meetings  of  the  convention  were 
held  alternately  in  Connecticut  and  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  N.  J.,  but  were  discontinued  during  the 
Revolutionary  War. 

When  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  was  constituted  in  1789  no  New 


358  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

England  Presbytery  or  ministerial  association 
was  represented,  and  New  England  was  without 
any  representation  whatever,  save  for  the  fact 
that  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
had  some  ministers  under  its  jurisdiction  in  Con- 
necticut. The  General  Assembly  at  its  meeting 
in  1790  unanimously  adopted  the  following: 

"Whereas  there  existed,  before  the  late 
revolution,  an  annual  convention  of  the 
clergy  of  the  Congregational  Churches  in 
New  England,  and  of  the  ministers  belong- 
ing to  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, which  was  interrupted  by  the 
disorders  occasioned  by  the  war; — this  As- 
sembly, being  peculiarly  desirous  to  renew 
and  strengthen  every  bond  of  union  between 
brethren  so  nearly  agreed  in  doctrine  and 
forms  of  worship,  as  the  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  and  Congregational  Churches 
evidently  are,  and  remembering  with  much 
satisfaction  the  mutual  pleasure  and  advant- 
age produced  and  received  by  their  former 
intercourse, — did  resolve  that  the  ministers 
of  the  Congregational  Church  in  New  Eng- 
land, be  invited  to  renew  their  annual  con- 
vention with  the  clergy  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church." 

A  committee  was  appointed  through  whose 
efforts  a  plan  was  adopted  of  fraternal  associa- 
tion through  delegates.  The  General  Assembly 
seated  as  members  delegates  from  the  general 
association  of  Connecticut,  and  from  the  general 


ON  STONY  GROUND  359 

convention  of  Congregational  and  Presbyterian 
ministers  from  Vermont;  and  in  its  turn  elected 
delegates  to  those  New  England  bodies.  Associa- 
tions in  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  Massachu- 
setts, Maine  and  Rhode  Island  were  eventually 
included  in  these  arrangements;  but  this  inter- 
course languished,  and  by  1837  or  1838  had  al- 
most declined.  In  1840  it  was  revived,  but 
embarrassments  through  differences  in  discipline 
occurred,  and  the  slavery  controversy  also  made 
trouble.  In  1857  the  General  Assembly  decided 
not  to  send  delegates  to  any  of  the  Congrega- 
tional bodies  of  New  England. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Source  of  American  Presbyterianism 

The  foregoing  review  of  the  situation  in  New 
England  brings  out  more  clearly  the  importance 
of  Pennsylvania  in  the  planting  of  Presbyterian- 
ism  in  America.  The  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia, founded  by  Makemie,  was  the  tap  root  from 
which  the  institutional  growth  of  Presbyterian- 
ism  proceeded.  Presbyterianism  in  New  York 
City  and  vicinity,  which  early  became  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  development  of  the  Church, 
was  an  offshoot  from  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia. The  first  movement  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  Presbyterian  church  in  New  York  City 
dates  from  the  visit  of  Makemie  and  Hampton  in 
1707.  The  first  regular  congregation  was  consti- 
tuted in  1717,  and  the  Rev.  James  Anderson,  a 
native  of  Scotland  and  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia,  was  the  first  pastor.  In 
1718  a  lot  was  purchased  in  Wall  Street,  and  the 
following  year  a  meetinghouse  was  erected.  Ow- 
ing to  its  inability  to  obtain  a  charter,  and 
alarmed  for  the  security  of  its  property,  the 
congregation  eventually  vested  the   fee  of  its 

360 


SOURCE  OF  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIANISM      361 

lot  and  building  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland.  The  property  was  recon- 
veyed  to  the  trustees  of  the  church  after  the 
Revolution. 

Notwithstanding  legal  hindrances,  Presbyter- 
ianism  throve  so  that,  in  1738,  New  York  Presby- 
tery was  constituted  through  the  action  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  which  ordered  that  the 
Presbytery  of  Long  Island  and  the  Presbytery 
of  New  Jersey  should  be  united  and  thenceforth 
known  as  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  When 
erected  it  consisted  of  sixteen  ministers  and 
fourteen  churches — Woodbridge,  Hanover,  Eliz- 
abethtown,  Westfield,  Newark  and  Connecticut 
Farms,  in  New  Jersey;  Wallkill,  Bethlehem,  and 
Goshen  in  and  about  the  Highlands  of  the  Hud- 
son ;  Jamaica,  Newtown,  Setauket  and  Mattituck, 
on  Long  Island;  together  with  the  church  in 
New  York  City.  The  churches  of  Elizabeth 
and  Newark  and  those  on  Long  Island  were 
originally  Congregational  in  their  government, 
so  it  appears  that  in  this  section  JPxesbyterian-  ^ 
ism  gained  at  the  expense  of  Congregationalism, 
although  having  no  advantage  in  legal  position. 
Probably  we  shall  not  err  if  we  attribute  the 
early  prosperity  of  Presbyterianism  outside  of 
New  England  to  the  early  formation  and  vigor- 
ous activity  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 
The  fountainhead  influence  of  that  Presbytery 


362  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

is  distinctly  manifested  when  the  ecclesiastical 
antecedents  of  the  original  membership  of  New 
York  Presbytery  are  considered.  The  oldest 
and  most  distinguished  member  of  the  new  Pres- 
bytery was  Jonathan  Dickinson.  Dr.  Briggs 
says  of  him:  "Dickinson  was  the  ablest  man 
in  the  American  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
colonial  period.  It  is  due  chiefly  to  him  that 
the  Church  became  an  American  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  that  it  was  not  split  into  fragments 
representing  and  perpetuating  the  differences  of 
Presbyterians  in  the  mother  countries  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  Ireland  and  Wales."  He  took 
an  active  part  in  establishing  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  the  corporate  predecessor  of  Princeton 
University,  and  was  its  first  President.  Dickin- 
son was  born  at  Hatfield,  Mass.,  and  was  grad- 
uated at  Yale  in  1706.  He  received  a  call  to  the 
Independent  Church  at  Elizabethtown,  New 
Jersey,  and  was  ordained  in  1709  by  the  Conso- 
ciated  ministers  of  Fairfield,  Conn.,  who  came  on 
invitation  to  perform  that  service. 

It  therefore  appears  that  his  position  was 
originally  just  like  that  of  other  Congregational 
ministers.  His  subsequent  career  was  deter- 
mined by  the  fact  that  the  existence  of  the 
Philadelphia  Presbytery  provided  a  basis  for  ec- 
clesiastical organization  that  appealed  to  him. 
He  joined  the  Presbytery  in  1717,  and  soon  after 


SOURCE  OF  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIANISM      363 

the  church  of  which  he  was  minister  put  itself 
under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery.  In  1733  the 
Presbytery  of  East  Jersey  was  created  and  Dick- 
inson became  its  leading  member,  which  position 
he  also  held  in  the  New  York  Presbytery  into 
which  the  East  Jersey  Presbytery  was  merged. 

John  Pierson,  who  was  second  on  the  roll  of 
original  members,  was  also  a  New  Englander. 
He  was  the  son  of  Abraham  Pierson,  the  first 
President  of  Yale  College,  where  he  graduated  in 
1711.  In  1714  he  received  a  call  to  Woodbridge, 
N.  J.,  where  he  was  ordained  April  27,  1717,  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

Joseph  Houston,  the  next  on  the  roll,  was  a 
Scotch-Irishman  who  emigrated  to  New  Eng- 
land, whence  he  removed  to  the  Delaware  Bay 
region.  On  July  24,  1724,  he  was  taken  under 
the  care  of  the  New  Castle  Presbytery  as  a  pro- 
bationer, and  on  October  15  of  the  same  year  he 
was  installed  as  pastor  of  Elk  Church,  Md.  In 
or  about  1739,  he  was  installed  pastor  of  Wallkill 
Church,  New  York. 

Among  other  members  of  the  New  York  Pres- 
bytery who  owed  their  ordination  to  the  Phila- 
delphia Presbytery  was  Joseph  Webb,  son  of  a 
pastor  of  the  same  name  at  Fairfield,  Conn.  He 
was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1715,  and  received  a 
call  to  Newark,  N.  J.,  where  he  was  ordained  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  October  22, 1719. 


364  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

John  Nutman,  a  native  of  Newark,  graduated  at 
Yale  in  1727,  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia  in  1730,  and  settled  at  Hanover, 
N.  J.  Samuel  Pumroy  was  descended  from  an 
old  Puritan  stock  of  Northampton,  Mass.  In 
1708  he  came  to  Newtown,  L.  I.,  as  a  Congrega- 
tional minister,  but  on  September  23,  1715,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery, 
and  in  1717  was  one  of  the  three  ministers  who 
formed  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island.  The 
Church  at  Newtown  to  which  Mr.  Pumroy  min- 
istered remained  Independent  until  1724,  when  it 
put  itself  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery.  Mr. 
Pumroy  continued  in  this  charge  until  his  death, 
June  30,  1744. 

These  instances  suffice  to  show  the  influence 
exerted  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  in 
gathering  all  congenial  elements  into  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  Apart  from  that  influence 
there  is  little  in  the  antecedents  of  the  ministers 
forming  the  New  York  Presbytery  to  suggest 
that  they  would  have  preferred  Presbyterianism 
to  Congregationalism.  Of  the  sixteen  only 
one,  Houston,  was  of  Scotch-Irish  nativity. 
Nearly  all  of  them  were  from  New  England. 
Twelve  were  graduates  of  Yale  and  three  of 
Harvard.  The  circumstance  that  determined 
their  adherence  to  the  Presbyterian  discipline  is 
to  be  attributed  chiefly  to  Makemie's  foresight  in 


SOURCE  OF  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIANISM      365 

making  a  timely  start  of  church  organization  in 
a  strategic  position.  In  population  and  position 
Philadelphia  then  more  closely  approximated  the 
character  of  a  national  capital  than  any  other 
town  in  the  colonies,  and  in  planting  the  first 
Presbytery  at  that  point  Makemie  associated  its 
growth  with  the  growth  of  the  nation.  Demon- 
strative evidence  of  this  fact  is  afforded  by  the 
speedy  appearance  of  a  brood  of  Presbyteries  all 
mothered  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 
All  the  great  organizers  of  American  Presby- 
terianism  were  connected  either  with  the  Phila- 
delphia Presbytery  or  with  directly  affiliated 
Presbyteries. 

Next  to  the  work  of  Dickinson  in  structural 
value  was  that  of  the  Tennents.  The  founder  of 
the  famous  family,  William  Tennent,  was  born 
in  Ireland  and  was  a  cousin  on  the  mother  side 
of  James  Logan,  Secretary  of  the  Province  of 
Pennsylvania.  He  married,  May  15,  1702,  a 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Kennedy,  a  distin- 
guished Presbyterian  minister,  who  having  been 
ejected  from  his  charge  in  Girvan,  Ayrshire, 
Scotland,  took  refuge  in  Ireland  and  became 
minister  of  Dondonald.  He  died  February  6, 
1688.  William  Tennent  was  graduated  at  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  July  11,  1695.  Not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  he  married  into  a 
Presbyterian  family,  he  turned  to  the  Established 


366  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Church  and  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  Down 
as  deacon,  July,  1704;  as  priest,  September  22, 
1706.  After  becoming  a  clergyman  he  is  said  to 
have  held  a  chaplaincy  in  a  nobleman's  family, 
but  he  became  unwilling  to  conform  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  Established  Church  and  he 
decided  to  go  to  America.  He  arrived  in  Sep- 
tember, 1716,  with  his  wife,  a  daughter  and  four 
sons,  who  became  ministers.  On  September  17, 
1718,  he  applied  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
for  admission.  In  so  doing  he  made  a  statement 
of  his  reasons  for  dissenting  from  the  Established 
Church,  of  which  he  had  formerly  been  a  member, 
being  in  the  main  that  episcopal  government 
was  anti- Scriptural. 

It  is  clearly  a  fact  of  great  tactical  importance 
that  at  the  time  Tennent  arrived  there  was  in 
existence  an  ecclesiastical  organization  of  which 
he  could  become  an  adherent.  Otherwise  he 
might  just  as  readily  have  become  an  Independ- 
ent or  a  Congregational  minister,  as  happened  in 
so  many  cases  in  New  England.  As  it  was,  his 
ability  as  an  organizer  became  of  great  value  to 
the  cause  of  American  Presbyterianism.  He  set- 
tled at  East  Chester,  N.  Y.,  November  22,  1718, 
and  did  effective  work  in  spreading  Presbyterian- 
ism in  Westchester  County.  He  removed  to  Bed- 
ford, New  York,  in  May,  1720.  In  1721  he  took 
charge  of  Bensalem  and  Smithfield  in  Bucks 


SOURCE  OP  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIANISM      361 

County,   Pa.     In   1726  he  accepted  a  call  to 
Neshaminy,  where  he  established  the  famous  Log 
College,  thus  becoming,  saysJQg   Baaggfr  "t?1"    T 
Father  of  Presbyter^"  flnllrffpf  in   Am~ri"i  " 
He  died  May  6,  1746^  r 

Gilbert  Tennent,  eldest  son  of  William,  was 
born  in  the  county  of  Armagh,  Ireland,  Febru- 
ary 5,  1703.  He  was  educated  by  his  father  and 
was  licensed  as  a  preacher  by  the  Philadelphia 
Presbytery  in  May,  1725.  An  indefatigable 
worker  and  an  eloquent  preacher,  his  career 
is  prominent  in  church  history,  owing  to  his 
vigorous  initiative  which  made  a  stir  wherever 
he  went.  A  friend  of  Whitefield,  who  admired 
his  eloquence,  Gilbert  Tennent  exemplified  the 
same  type  of  fervent  and  emotional  religion,  and 
like  Whitefield,  he  became  an  itinerant  evange- 
list. After  a  conference  with  Whitefield  in  New 
Brunswick,  in  November,  1740,  Tennent  went 
to  New  England,  where  he  preached  numerous 
sermons  with  marked  effect  in  arousing  popular 
interest.  He  frequently  preached  three  times  a 
day.  His  tour  included  a  number  of  towns  in 
Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  Maine  and 
Connecticut.  At  New  Haven  he  preached 
seventeen  sermons,  and  a  large  number  of  stu- 
dents were  drawn  into  the  ministry.  He  re- 
turned to  New  Brunswick  in  1741,  and  soon 
became  as  active  in  writing  as  in  teaching.     In 


368  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

1744  he  removed  to  Philadelphia  and  took  charge 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  but  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  successful  in  routine 
pastoral  work,  which  was  probably  too  restricted 
a  field  for  his  powers.  In  1763  he  went  to  Great 
Britain  in  company  with  Samuel  Davies  to  raise 
funds  for  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  in  which 
they  had  marked  success.  In  1755  Tennent  was 
again  with  the  Second  Church  of  Philadelphia, 
and  his  labors  at  this  period  appear  to  have  been 
more  fruitful  in  parish  results.  He  died  Janu- 
ary 23,  1764. 

William  Tennent,  brother  of  Gilbert  and  sec- 
ond son  of  the  first  William  Tennent,  was  born 
in  County  Antrim,  Ireland,  June  3,  1705.  He, 
too,  became  a  distinguished  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter. He  settled  at  Freehold,  N.  J.,  and  like  his 
brother  he  was  active  in  evangelistic  work,  visit- 
ing Maryland  and  Virginia  in  such  labors.  John 
Tennent,  third  son  of  the  first  William,  was  born 
in  County  Armagh,  Ireland,  November  12,  1707. 
He  was  licensed  September  18,  1729,  and  in  1730 
was  ordained  by  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery  as 
pastor  at  Freehold,  N.  J.,  in  which  charge  he 
preceded  his  brother  William.  He  died  April 
23, 1732,  aged  twenty-five.  His  brother  William 
carried  on  his  pastoral  work  for  him  six  months 
prior  to  his  decease.  A  younger  brother,  Charles 
Tennent,  born  in  County  Down,  May  3,  1711, 


SOURCE  OF  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIANISM      369 

was  also  an  eminent  minister.  He  was  pastor  of 
Whiteday  Church  under  New  Castle  Presbytery, 
but  in  1763  removed  to  Buckingham,  now  Berlin, 
on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland.  He  died 
in  1771. 

The  Tennent  family  afford  an  extraordinary 
instance  of  hereditary  faculty,  and  their  services 
were  of  inestimable  value  in  popularizing  the 
Presbyterian  type  of  worship.  Dr.  Briggs  says 
that  "William  Tennent  is  one  of  the  grandest 
trophies  won  by  Presbyterianism  from  Episco- 
pacy in  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century." 

Among  the  early  recruits  gained  by  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  were  a  number  of  Scotch-Irish 
clergymen,  some  coming  by  way  of  New  Eng- 
land and  some  direct.  Adam  Boyd,  born  at 
Ballymoney,  Ireland,  in  1692,  came  to  New  Eng- 
land in  1722  or  1723.  He  followed  Craighead  to 
Pennsylvania  and  was  ordained  at  Octorara  Sep- 
tember 13,  1724.  The  Forks  of  the  Brandy  wine 
was  included  in  his  field  until  1734.  He  spent 
his  life  in  this  region,  dying  November  23,  1768. 
He  left  a  widow,  five  daughters  and  five  sons. 
The  eldest  son  is  said  to  have  entered  the  min- 
istry but  he  died  young.  One  of  the  sons,  Adam, 
went  to  Wilmington,  N.  C,  where  he  started 
the  Cape  Fear  Mercury,  in  1767.  He  was  a 
leading  member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 


370  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

formed  among  the  Revolutionary  patriots  of  that 
region.  In  1776  he  entered  the  ministry  and  be- 
came chaplain  of  the  North  Carolina  brigade. 

Archibald  McCook  was  received  as  a  student 
from  Ireland  by  New  Castle  Presbytery  in 
March  1726,  and  was  licensed  September  13,  of 
that  year.  In  1727  he  was  sent  to  Kent  in  Dela- 
ware, his  charge  embracing  several  congrega- 
tions. He  was  ordained  June  7,  and  died  within 
a  few  months. 

Hugh  Stevenson,  a  theological  student  from 
Ireland,  was  received  by  the  New  Castle  Pres- 
bytery, May  11, 1726.  He  was  licensed  Septem- 
ber 13,  and  employed  in  temporary  supply  of 
pulpits  until  1728  when  he  was  called  to  Snow 
Hill,  Md.  In  1733,  while  preaching  in  Virginia, 
he  experienced  treatment  of  which  he  made  for- 
mal complaint  to  the  Synod.  The  Synod  sent  a 
copy  to  the  Church  of  Scotland  with  a  request 
that  that  body  use  its  influence  with  the  British 
Government  to  lay  "a  restraint  upon  some 
gentlemen  in  said  neighboring  Province  as  may 
discourage  them  from  hampering  our  mission- 
aries by  illegal  persecutions."  In  1739  or  1740 
Stevenson  opened  a  grammar  school  in  Philadel- 
phia. He  was  a  teacher  of  high  reputation,  but  in 
turning  from  ministerial  work  to  education  he 
discontinued  ministerial  labor  and  fell  into  some 
irregularities  for  which  in  1741  he  was  suspended 


SOURCE  OF  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIANISM      371 

by  the  Synod.  He  died  some  time  before  May, 
1744. 

John  Wilson,  of  whose  antecedents  nothing  is 
recorded  save  that  he  was  a  minister  from  Ire- 
land "coming  providentially  into  these  parts," 
was  received  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in 
1729.  He  preached  at  Lower  Octorara  and  es- 
tablished himself  in  the  favor  of  the  congregation, 
but  in  January,  1730,  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Castle  received  a  letter  from  Armagh  Presbytery 
of  such  tenor  that  the  Presbytery  resolved  not  to 
employ  him.  He  was  then  preaching  at  New 
Castle  and  the  congregation  stood  by  him.  Rob- 
ert Gordon,  Judge  of  New  Castle  County  Court, 
appealed  to  the  Synod  in  Wilson's  behalf,  but  the 
Synod  upheld  the  Presbytery.  Wilson  soon  af- 
ter removed  to  Boston,  and  died  there  January  6, 
1733,  aged  sixty-six.  It  is  supposed  that  the 
Rev.  John  Wilson  was  his  son,  who  was  born  in 
Ulster,  and  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Chester,  N.  H.,  in  1734,  and 
who  died  there,  February  1,  1779,  aged  seventy- 
six. 

Dr.  Hodge  writing  in  1839  gives  a  list  of  the 
ministers  who  entered  the  Presbyterian  Church 
from  1729  to  1741,  but  he  states  that  the  records 
are  so  imperfect  that  the  list  cannot  be  regarded 
as  complete.  He  mentions  thirty-eight  and  of 
these  nineteen  were  from  Ireland;  the  others  so 
far  as  known  being  natives  of  America. 


372  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Most  of  the  information  we  now  have  about 
the  early  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
prior  to  1760  we  owe  to  the  antiquarian  zeal  of 
the  Rev.  Richard  Webster,  pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Mauch  Chunk,  Pa.,  whose  writ- 
ings on  the  subject  were  put  in  shape  in  1853 
although  they  were  not  published  until  shortly 
after  his  death  in  1856.  Mr.  Webster  leaves  out 
of  account  the  Scotch-Irish  ministers  that  were 
absorbed  by  New  England  Congregationalism  as 
he  is  intent  upon  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  the  work  of  her  ministry  prior  to 
1760.  Out  of  200  early  ministers  mentioned  by 
him  there  were  thirty-three  whose  place  of  nativ- 
ity could  not  be  determined,  but  of  the  remainder 
fifty-five  were  from  Ireland,  twenty-six  from 
Scotland,  six  from  England,  five  from  Wales, 
two  from  Continental  Europe  and  seventy-three 
were  American  born,  many  of  Scotch-Irish  an- 
cestry. The  Scotch-Irish  preponderance  is  par- 
ticularly marked  in  the  early  period  before 
American  schools  began  to  graduate  fit  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry.  The  American  field  long 
continued  to  attract  ministerial  supply  from 
Ulster.  Numerous  cases  are  on  record  of  the 
application  to  an  American  Presbytery  of  a  pro- 
bationer of  an  Ulster  Presbytery  indicating  that 
the  candidate  had  prepared  for  the  ministry  with 
a  view  to  going  to  America  for  admission.    Some 


SOURCE  OF  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIANISM      373 

defective  material  got  into  the  American  minis- 
try in  this  way,  but  the  Presbyteries  were  firm  in 
maintaining  discipline  and  a  few  Scotch-Irish 
ministers  were  deposed  for  heterodoxy  or  misde- 
meanor. One  case  of  the  sort  became  famous 
owing  to  the  part  which  Benjamin  Franklin  took 
in  it.  He  gave  the  following  account  of  it  in  his 
A  utobiography : 

"About  the  year  1734  there  arrived  among 
us  a  young  Presbyterian  preacher  named 
Hemphill,  who  delivered  with  a  good  voice, 
and  apparently  extempore,  most  excellent 
discourses ;  which  drew  together  considerable 
members  of  different  persuasions,  who 
joined  in  admiring  them.  Among  the  rest 
I  became  one  of  his  constant  hearers,  his 
sermons  pleasing  me,  as  they  had  little  of  the 
dogmatical  kind,  but  inculcated  strongly  the 
practice  of  virtue,  or  what  in  the  religious 
style  are  called  good  works.  Those  however, 
of  our  congregation  who  considered  them- 
selves as  orthodox  Presbyterians,  disap- 
proved his  doctrine,  and  were  joined  by  most 
of  the  old  ministers,  who  arraigned  him  of 
heterodoxy  before  the  Synod,  in  order  to 
have  him  silenced.  I  became  his  zealous 
partisan  and  contributed  all  I  could  to  raise 
a  party  in  his  favor  and  combated  for  him 
awhile  with  some  hopes  of  success.  There 
was  much  scribbling  pro  and  con  upon  the 
occasion;  and  finding  that  though  an  ele- 
gant preacher  he  was  but  a  poor  writer,  I 
wrote  for  him  two  or  three  pamphlets  and  a 
piece  in  the  Gazette  of  April,  1735.    These 


374  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

pamphlets  as  is  generally  the  case  with  con- 
troversial writings  though  eagerly  read  at 
the  time,  were  soon  out  of  vogue,  and  I  ques- 
tion whether  a  single  copy  of  them  now 
exists. 

"During  the  contest  an  unlucky  occur- 
rence hurt  his  cause  exceedingly.  One  of 
our  adversaries  having  heard  him  preach  a 
sermon,  that  was  much  admired,  thought  he 
had  somewhere  read  the  sermon  before,  or 
at  least  a  part  of  it.  On  searching  he  found 
the  part  quoted  at  length,  in  one  of  the 
British  Reviews,  from  a  discourse  of  Dr. 
Foster's.  This  detection  gave  many  of  our 
party  disgust,  who  accordingly  abandoned 
his  cause,  and  occasioned  our  more  speedy 
discomfiture  in  the  Synod.  I  rather  ap- 
proved his  giving  us  good  sermons  com- 
posed by  others,  than  bad  ones  of  his  own 
manufacture;  though  the  latter  was  the 
practice  of  our  common  teachers.  He  after- 
ward acknowledged  to  me,  that  none  of 
those  he  preached  were  his  own ;  adding  that 
his  memory  was  such  as  enabled  him  to  re- 
tain and  repeat  any  sermon  after  once  read- 
ing only.  On  our  defeat,  he  left  us  in  search 
elsewhere  of  better  fortune,  and  I  quitted 
the  congregation  never  attending  it  after; 
though  I  continued  many  years  my  sub- 
scription for  the  support  of  its  ministers." 

This  minister  was  Samuel  Hemphill,  who 
while  a  probationer  in  Ireland  acted  as  supply 
to  the  congregation  at  Burt,  propounding  doc- 
trines to  which  exceptions  were  taken  by  the 
Rev.  Patrick  Vance.     After  Hemphill  went  to 


SOURCE  OF  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIANISM      375 

America  Vance  wrote  to  his  brother-in-law,  an 
elder  at  Nottingham,  Pa.,  expressing  an  unfav- 
orable opinion  of  Hemphill.  Hemphill  however 
presented  credentials  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Strabane,  Ireland,  and  was  licensed  to  preach 
and  eventually  he  settled  in  Philadelphia  as 
Franklin  has  described.  Although  his  sermons 
gave  such  great  satisfaction  to  Franklin,  who  was 
a  deist,  orthodox  Presbyterianism  promptly  re- 
sented his  teachings.  The  Rev.  Jedediah  An- 
drews, in  a  letter  written  June  14,  1735,  gave  the 
following  account  of  the  situation: 

"There  came  from  Ireland  one  Mr. 
Hemphill  to  sojourn  in  town  for  the  winter, 
as  was  pretended,  till  he  could  fall  into  busi- 
ness with  some  people  in  the  country,  though 
some  think  he  had  other  views  at  first,  con- 
sidering the  infidel  disposition  of  too  many 
here.  Some  desiring  that  I  should  have  as- 
sistance and  some  leading  men,  not  disaf- 
fected to  that  way  of  Deism  as  they  should 
be, — that  man  was  imposed  upon  me  and 
the  congregation.  Most  of  the  best  people 
were  soon  so  dissatisfied  that  they  would  not 
come  to  the  meeting.  Free  thinkers,  deists, 
and  nothings,  getting  a  scout  of  him,  flocked 
to  hear.  I  attended  all  winter,  but  making 
complaint  brought  the  ministers  together, 
who  acted  as  is  shown  in  the  books  I  send 

you." 

Hemphill,  when  cited  before  the  Presbytery, 
asserted  that  Andrews  was  actuated  by  jealousy, 


376  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

because  there  was  always  a  larger  audience 
when  Hemphill  preached  than  when  Andrews 
preached.  The  ecclesiastical  court  met  April  17, 
1735,  and  the  indictment  of  Hemphill's  theology 
was  formulated  in  a  series  of  articles.  Hemp- 
hill's mode  of  defence  seems  to  have  been  chiefly 
the  making  of  imputations  on  the  motives  of  his 
accusers.  He  also  took  the  ground  that  his  ut- 
terances had  been  misrepresented,  meanwhile 
displaying  reluctance  to  declare  just  what  he 
did  say  and  just  what  he  did  believe.  Sufficient 
was  eventually  extracted  from  him  to  elicit  an 
unanimous  verdict  that  his  teachings  were  un- 
sound and  dangerous  and  he  was  suspended  from 
the  ministry.  Hemphill  posed  as  a  martyr,  and 
issued  a  statement  that  the  commission  of  the 
Presbytery  which  tried  him  had  "no  pattern  for 
their  proceedings  but  that  hellish  tribunal  the 
Spanish  Inquisition."  The  Synod  approved  the 
action  of  the  Presbytery  and  Hemphill  sent  a 
communication  in  which  he  said:  "I  shall  think 
you  do  me  a  deal  of  honor  if  you  entirely  excom- 
municate me." 

At  one  time  Hemphill  had  such  a  following 
that  Presbytery  and  Synod  were  the  tar- 
gets of  a  pamphlet  warfare.  In  the  midst  of 
this  hubbub  came  the  announcement  of  Hemp- 
hill's systematic  plagiarism.  The  evidence  was 
incontrovertible  as  the  sermons  by  various  authors 


SOURCE  OF  AMERICAN  PRESBYTERIANISM      377 

which  he  had  taken  and  passed  off  for  his  own 
had  been  published  in  England,  and  he  made  the 
mistake  of  supposing  that  copies  would  not  get 
into  the  American  colonies.  Franklin,  as  ap- 
pears from  his  own  account,  continued  to  uphold 
Hemphill  even  after  the  exposure,  but  the  martyr 
was  now  shown  to  be  an  impostor  and  his  popu- 
larity suddenly  collapsed.  He  moved  away  and 
nothing  is  known  of  his  subsequent  career.  He 
was  an  early  example  of  the  clever,  plausible 
sophist,  a  type  that  from  time  to  time  appears 
in  the  ministry,  but  is  better  assured  of  a  career 
in  our  own  time  than  it  was  in  the  pioneer  stage 
of  the  American  church.  Although  the  need  of 
ministers  was  so  great  that  easy  judgment  of 
qualifications  would  have  been  a  natural  ten- 
dency, yet  the  early  Presbyterians  seem  to  have 
been  firm  in  their  discipline.  Notwithstanding 
Hemphill's  marked  success  as  a  popular  preacher 
and  the  formidable  championship  that  rallied  to 
his  support,  the  Presbytery  did  not  flinch  from 
discharging  its  duty,  and  the  commission  that 
tried  Hemphill  was  unanimous  in  its  decision. 
The  incident  seems  worthy  of  particular  detail 
for  perhaps  more  than  any  other  event  it  illus- 
trates the  courage  and  loyalty  of  the  founders 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Expansion  South  and  West 

The  introduction  of  Presbyterianism  in  South 
Carolina  was  almost  coeval  with  the  Chesapeake 
Bay  settlements.  The  first  Presbyterian  settlers 
were  Scotch,  being  part  of  the  migration  to 
America  from  Scotland  that  set  in  after  the 
battle  of  Bothwell  in  1684.  A  body  of  twenty- 
two  sailed  from  Glasgow  to  Carolina  and  set- 
tled at  Port  Royal  on  the  Broad  River.  William 
Dunlap  served  as  minister  to  this  flock,  which 
eventually  dispersed  as  the  place  proved  un- 
healthy and  the  colony  broke  up.  Dunlap  re- 
turned to  Scotland  and  eventually  became  Prin- 
cipal of  the  University  of  Glasgow. 

A  number  of  Puritan  ministers  from  New 
England  went  to  Carolina  and  founded  churches 
of  the  Congregational  pattern,  but  distinctive 
Presbyterianism  again  entered  the  region  in 
1699,  as  an  accidental  consequence  of  the  attempt 
made  to  establish  a  Scotch  colony  on  the  Isthmus 
of  Darien.  With  the  breakup  of  that  colony  the 
majority  of  the  emigrants  sought  refuge  in  New 
England,  but  one  of  the  ministers,  Alexander 
Stobo,  was  with  a  party  that  set  sail  for  Scotland. 

378 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  379 

The  vessel  was  so  damaged  by  a  storm  that  it 
made  for  America  and  Stobo  was  landed  at 
Charleston,  S.  C.  The  Puritan  congregation 
there  had  just  lost  its  pastor,  John  Cotton,  who 
died  September  8,  1699.  Stobo  received  a  call 
and  he  settled  with  them,  remaining  there  the  rest 
of  his  life.  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  Church 
had  been  recruited  by  Scotch-Irish  immigration 
that  Presbyterianism  became  strong  enough  to 
display  its  characteristic  organization  in  the 
Carolinas.  When  the  General  Assembly  was 
formed  three  Carolina  Presbyteries  were  repre- 
sented, Orange,  South  Carolina  and  Abing- 
don. But  all  three  Presbyteries  were  derived 
from  the  activities  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 
New  Castle  Presbytery,  created  in  1716  by 
subdivision  of  the  original  Presbytery  of  Phil- 
adelphia, was  the  parent  in  1755  of  Hanover 
Presbytery,  Virginia,  out  of  which  were  formed 
Orange  Presbytery  in  1770  and  Abingdon  in 
1785.  South  Carolina  Presbytery  was  formed 
out  of  Orange  Presbytery  in  1784. 

Organized  Presbyterianism  was  communicated 
to  the  South  by  the  ministers  who  accompanied 
Scotch-Irish  emigration  from  Pennsylvania 
southward,  moving  down  the  valleys  that  stretch 
from  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  into  Virginia. 
Beginning  in  1732  a  stream  of  Scotch-Irish  emi- 
gration poured  into  the  Shenandoah  Valley  in 


380  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Virginia  and  the  first  Presbyterian  minister  in 
that  region  was  probably  Samuel  Gelston.  He 
was  born  in  the  North  of  Ireland  in  1692,  and 
emigrated  to  America  in  1715.  After  having 
held  a  number  of  charges  in  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York,  he  seems  to  have  visited  Virginia 
in  1735.  Little  is  known  of  his  labors  there  ex- 
cept that  they  were  so  acceptable  that  a  call  for 
his  services  was  sent  to  Donegal  Presbytery  of 
which  he  was  then  a  member.  In  1736  the 
Presbytery  directed  him  to  supply  Pequea 
church,  but  in  the  following  spring  he  notified 
the  Presbytery  that  he  was  about  to  remove  from 
its  bounds  and  was  dismissed.  No  record  of  his 
subsequent  career  seems  to  have  been  preserved, 
although  he  is  said  to  have  lived  to  the  age  of 
ninety. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  note 
an  application  for  ministerial  supply  made  in 
1719  by  "the  People  of  Potomoke,"  believed  to 
be  identical  with  the  congregations  of  Falling 
Water  and  Tuscorara,  near  the  present  town  of 
Martinsburg.  The  Rev.  Daniel  Magill,  who 
came  from  Scotland  in  1713,  was  appointed  to 
visit  them.  He  made  a  stay  of  several  months 
tod  reported  the  following  year  that  he  had  "put 
the  people  into  church  order."  The  people  de- 
sired him  to  settle  as  their  pastor  but  he  declined 
the  call. 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  381 

The  first  minister  to  settle  in  Virginia  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  was 
John  Craig.  He  was  born  in  Ireland,  September 
21,  1710,  but  was  educated  in  America.  He 
presented  himself  to  Donegal  Presbytery  in  the 
fall  of  1736,  was  taken  on  trial  the  following 
spring  and  was  licensed  August  30,  1738.  He 
was  at  first  employed  as  a  supply  in  Maryland, 
but  toward  the  close  of  1739  he  was  sent  to  Irish 
Tract  and  other  places  in  Virginia.  He  formed 
two  congregations  in  the  south  part  of  what  is 
now  Augusta  County,  Va.  In  April,  1740,  he  re- 
ceived a  call  from  what  was  described  as  the  con- 
gregation of  the  Triple  Forks  of  Shenandoah, 
but  the  places  where  the  meeting-houses  were 
situated  were  known  as  Augusta  and  Tinkling 
Springs.  This  region,  being  southwest  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  was  exposed  to  Indian  raids  and 
Braddock's  defeat  imperiled  the  safety  of  the 
settlement.  Craig  encouraged  his  people  to 
stand  their  ground.  The  church  was  fortified, 
and  men  brought  their  rifles  and  posted  sentries 
when  attending  service.  Through  the  measures 
taken  the  community  held  together  and  sustained 
little  loss  although  Indians  prowled  in  the 
vicinity. 

Craig  resigned  the  pastoral  care  of  Tinkling 
Springs  church  in  November,  1764,  but  he  re- 
mained in  charge  till  his  death,  April  21,  1774, 


382  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN    AMERICA 

aged  sixty-three.  He  appears  to  have  had  in  a 
marked  degree  the  adaptability  and  resourceful- 
ness of  a  pioneer.  It  is  related  of  him  that  when 
asked  how  he  found  suitable  persons  for  elders  in 
new  settlements,  where  he  organized  churches, 
he  replied,  "When  there  were  no  hewn  stone  I 
just  took  dornicks."  When  he  resigned  the 
Tinkling  Springs  charge  in  1764  he  was  able  to 
say  to  the  congregation:  "Few  and  poor  and 
without  order,  were  you  when  I  accepted  your 
call;  but  now  I  leave  you  a  numerous,  wealthy 
congregation,  able  to  support  the  Gospel  and  of 
credit  and  reputation  in  the  Church." 

Thus  far  the  work  of  Presbyterian  ministers 
in  Virginia  had  been  mainly  in  the  nature  of 
supply  to  congregations  formed  by  the  Scotch- 
Irish  settlers.  But  a  period  of  active  missionary 
and  evangelistic  work  followed  in  which  the 
leader  was  William  Robinson.  He  was  of  Eng- 
lish Quaker  ancestry  and  on  coming  to  America 
he  settled  in  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  as  a  school  teacher. 
While  teaching  he  also  studied  at  the  Log  Col- 
lege, so  he  was  a  recruit  to  Presbyterianism  made 
by  the  Tennents.  In  the  winter  of  1742  Robin- 
son went  into  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  traveling 
southward  until  he  penetrated  North  Carolina, 
where  he  spent  the  winter  enduring  hardships 
that  affected  his  health.  He  returned  along  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  achieving  great 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  383 

success  as  an  evangelist.  His  missionary  tour 
had  a  marked  effect  in  spreading  Presbyterian- 
ism.  His  aptitude  was  for  evangelistic  work 
rather  than  for  the  work  of  a  settled  pastor. 
From  Virginia  he  went  to  New  York  State  and 
thence  to  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland,  where 
in  1745  there  was  a  marked  revival  under  his  min- 
istrations. 

The  Synod  of  New  York  at  its  first  meeting, 
September,  1745,  considered  the  situation  in  Vir- 
ginia and  was  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that 
Mr.  Robinson  was  the  most  suitable  person  to  be 
sent,  and  earnestly  recommended  him  to  visit 
that  field  as  soon  as  his  circumstances  would  per- 
mit. Robinson  was  present  at  that  meeting  and 
probably  intended  to  go,  but  meanwhile  he  be- 
came interested  in  a  congregation  at  St.  George's, 
Del.,  where  there  had  been  a  revival  under 
his  visit,  and  the  last  six  months  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  their  services.  He  died  August  1,  1746. 
He  bequeathed  most  of  his  books  to  Samuel 
Davies  and  left  it  as  a  last  request  that  Davies 
should  take  up  the  work  in  Virginia.  The  min- 
istry of  Davies  was  the  great  organizing  influence 
of  pioneer  Presbyterianism  in  Virginia,  but  there 
were  others  prior  to  him  in  point  of  time  among 
Robinson's  successors. 

John  Blair,  born  in  Ireland  in  1720,  educated 
at  the  Log  College  and  licensed  by  the  New  Side 


384  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  was  ordained  Decem- 
ber 27,  1742,  as  pastor  of  congregations  in  Cum- 
berland County,  Pa.  He  visited  Virginia  soon 
after  Robinson  and  organized  congregations  east 
and  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  In  1746  he  made 
another  visit  to  Virginia  and  again  organized  a 
number  of  congregations.  He  resigned  his  pas- 
toral charge  in  Pennsylvania  in  December,  1748, 
owing  to  Indian  invasions.  He  became  associ- 
ated with  his  brother,  Samuel  Blair,  in  carrying 
on  the  school  at  Fagg's  Manor.  In  1767  he  be- 
came Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral  Philos- 
ophy in  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  Princeton, 
and  for  a  period  acted  as  President,  until  Dr. 
Witherspoon  was  elected  to  that  office  in  1769. 
Blair  resigned  and  accepted  a  call  to  Wallkill,  in 
the  Highlands  of  New  York.  He  died,  Decem- 
ber 8,  1771. 

John  Roan,  born  in  Ireland,  educated  at  the 
Log  College,  was  licensed  by  the  New  Side  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle  and  sent  to  Virginia  in  the 
winter  of  1744.  He  made  trouble  by  his  attacks 
on  the  Established  Church,  and  was  indicted  for 
libelous  utterances.  Gilbert  Tennent  and  Sam- 
uel Finley  interested  themselves  in  his  defense 
and  the  case  broke  down,  as  there  was  no  evi- 
dence that  he  had  used  the  expressions  imputed 
to  him.  The  man  who  made  the  information  on 
which  the  indictment  was  found  practically  con- 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  385 

fessed  perjury  by  fleeing.  His  Virginia  mission 
finished,  Roan  settled  in  Pennsylvania  as  pastor 
of  the  congregations  of  Derry,  Paxton  and 
Mount  Joy.  Toward  the  close  of  his  life  he 
again  went  on  extensive  missionary  tours  and  at 
one  time  spent  eight  weeks  on  the  South  Branch 
of  the  Potomac.  He  died  October  3,  1775,  and 
was  buried  at  Deny  meeting-house  on  the 
Swatara. 

William  Dean  went  with  Eliab  Byram  of  the 
Synod  of  New  York  to  the  Valley  of  Virginia 
and  preached  there  in  1745-1747.  Dean  was  one 
of  the  graduates  of  Log  College,  was  taken  on 
trial  by  New  Brunswick  Presbytery  August  3, 
1741,  was  licensed  October  12, 1742,  and  was  sent 
to  Neshaminy  and  the  Forks  of  the  Delaware,  by 
which  term  was  designated  the  country  in  the 
angle  between  the  Lehigh  River  and  the  Dela- 
ware. It  was  then  Indian  country  but  Scotch- 
Irish  settlements  had  been  made  in  the  region. 
Later  he  was  appointed  to  supply  at  the  Forks 
of  Brahdywine  and  Pequea.  He  went  to  Vir- 
ginia and  as  a  result  of  his  labors  there  he  re- 
ceived a  call  from  the  church  at  Timber  Ridge 
and  Forks  of  James  River,  May  18,  1748.  Be- 
fore action  was  taken  on  the  call  he  died,  July  29, 
1748,  aged  only  twenty-nine.  Byram,  his  asso- 
ciate in  the  Virginia  field,  was  of  New  England 
stock  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  University 


386  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

in  1740.  He  became  minister  of  Roxiticus,  now 
Mendham,  N.  J.,  in  October,  1743,  under  the 
care  of  New  York  Presbytery.  His  work  in 
Virginia  was  limited  to  the  tour  made  with  Dean, 
and  although  he  received  a  call  he  declined  to 
settle  in  Virginia.  He  joined  New  Brunswick 
Presbytery  May  22,  1751,  and  settled  at  Am- 
well,  June  25.    He  died  before  May,  1754. 

Samuel  Davies,  whom  Dr.  Briggs  declares  to 
be  "one  of  the  greatest  divines  the  American 
Presbyterian  Church  has  produced,"  was  born 
November  3,  1723,  in  the  county  of  New  Castle, 
now  in  the  State  of  Delaware,  but  then  in  the 
Province  of  Pennsylvania.  He  is  supposed  to 
have  been  of  Welsh  descent.  He  lived  on  a  farm 
and  did  not  attend  school  until  he  was  ten,  learn- 
ing meanwhile  what  his  mother  could  teach  him. 
He  went  to  school  first  to  the  Rev.  Abel  Morgan, 
afterward  the  Baptist  minister  at  Middletown, 
N.  J.  He  pursued  his  studies  under  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Blair,  at  Fagg's  Manor,  Chester  County, 
Pa.  The  influence  of  Blair  and  Gilbert  Tennent 
attracted  him  to  the  Presbyterian  ministry.  He 
was  licensed  by  New  Castle  Presbytery,  July  30, 
1746,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  and  ordained  an 
evangelist  February  19,  1747.  The  same  year  he 
went  to  Virginia  and  in  1748  settled  at  Hanover 
as  pastor. 

At    that    time    there    were    three    Presby- 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  387 

terian  ministers  in  Virginia,  Samuel  Black,  in 
Albemarle  County  near  Rockfish  Gap,  of  the 
Blue  Ridge ;  the  Rev.  John  Craig  and  Alexander 
Miller  in  what  was  then  Augusta  County,  west 
of  the  Blue  Ridge.  These  were  all  Irish  born 
and  were  connected  with  the  Presbytery  of  Done- 
gal, belonging  to  what  was  then  called  Old  Side. 
Davies  as  a  member  of  New  Side  Presbytery 
would  not  count  on  any  assistance  from  them. 
Of  the  situation  with  which  he  had  to  cope 
Davies  himself  gave  the  following  account : 

"There  are  meeting-houses  licensed  in  five 
different  counties  in  this  part  of  the  State, 
but  the  extremes  of  my  charge  lie  80  or  90 
miles  apart;  and  the  dissenters  under  my 
care  are  scattered  through  six  or  seven  dif- 
ferent counties.  .  .  .  The  counties  are  large, 
generally  40  or  50  miles  in  length,  and  about 
20  or  30  in  breadth ;  so  that  though  members 
may  live  in  one  county,  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble for  them  all  to  convene  at  one  place, 
and  much  more  so  when  they  are  dispersed 
through  so  many  counties.  Though  there 
are  now  seven  places  of  worship  licensed,  yet 
the  nearest  to  each  other  are  12  or  15  miles 
apart;  and  many  have  to  travel  from  10,  15 
or  20  miles  to  the  nearest,  and  from  40  to  60 
miles  to  the  other  places  licensed;  nay  some 
of  them  have  from  30  to  40  miles  to  the  near- 
est place  of  worship. " 

Of  the  effect  of  his  labors  the  amplest  acknowl- 
edgment has  come  from   opponents.     In  Dr. 


888  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Hawks'  history  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  Virginia,  he  mentions  Davies  as  the 
chief  instrument  in  the  upbuilding  of  Presbyter- 
ianism.  When  he  settled  in  Hanover  County 
"there  were  not  ten  avowed  dissenters  within  one 
hundred  miles  of  him."  Inside  of  three  years  he 
had  established  seven  meeting-houses,  three  in 
Hanover  County,  one  in  Henrico,  one  in  Caro- 
line, one  in  Louisa  and  one  in  Goochland. 
Among  these  houses,  some  of  them  forty  miles 
apart,  he  divided  his  labors.  In  addition  to  be- 
ing a  zealous  missionary  and  an  eloquent  preacher 
he  was  an  able  man  of  affairs.  He  was  harassed 
in  his  work  by  a  contention  that  his  proceedings 
were  illegal,  on  the  ground  that  the  English  Act 
of  Toleration  did  not  extend  to  Virginia.  That 
position  was  taken  by  Peyton  Randolph,  Attor- 
ney-General of  Virginia.  On  one  occasion  Davies 
argued  the  point  with  him  in  court.  Mr.  Hawks 
remarks :  "He  was  frankly  acknowledged  to  have 
sustained  his  cause  with  great  learning  and  elo- 
quence." It  eventually  turned  out  that  Davies 
was  in  the  right  on  the  law  of  the  case.  When 
Davies  visited  England,  in  1753,  with  Tennent  to 
collect  funds  for  Princeton  College,  he  took  the 
matter  up  with  the  Attorney- General,  Sir  Dud- 
ley Rider,  and  obtained  from  him  an  opinion  that 
the  English  Act  of  Toleration  was  the  law  of 
Virginia. 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  389 

Davies  returned  to  Virginia  in  February,  1755, 
and  resumed  his  indefatigable  labors.  There 
were  two  months  of  1757  in  which  he  travelled 
500  miles  and  preached  forty  sermons.  On 
August  16,  1758,  he  was  elected  President  of 
Princeton,  but  he  doubted  whether  he  should  for- 
sake the  Virginia  field,  and  recommended  Samuel 
Finley  as  better  qualified  than  himself.  But  the 
trustees  reelected  him,  May  9,  1759,  and  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  dissolved 
his  pastoral  relation.  Davies  was  inaugurated 
September  26,  and  applied  himself  energetically 
and  successfully  to  the  duties  of  his  position  but 
his  term  was  brief.  At  the  close  of  1760  a  friend, 
alluding  to  the  sermon  expected  from  Davies  on 
New  Year's  day,  remarked  that  his  predecessor 
Aaron  Burr  had  begun  the  last  year  of  his  life 
with  a  sermon  on  Jeremiah,  xxviii,  16:  "This 
year  thou  shalt  die."  Davies  selected  the  same 
text,  and  died  a  little  more  than  a  month  later, 
February  4,  1761. 

Davies's  picture  in  Nassau  Hall,  Princeton 
University,  shows  a  man  of  plethoric  habit,  the 
ruddiness  of  his  face  emphasized  by  his  large  wig. 
Yet  in  early  life  he  came  near  dying  of  consump- 
tion. He  married  October  23, 1746,  and  on  Sep- 
tember 15, 1747,  his  wife  was  dead  with  her  infant 
son.  His  own  health  was  such  that  it  seemed 
there  was  nothing  more  for  him  to  do  than  to 


390  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

spend  freely  what  was  left  of  it.  He  went  to  the 
Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland,  engaged  actively  in 
evangelistic  work,  suffering  from  fever  by  night 
and  riding  and  preaching  day  and  evening  in  the 
extremest  cold  of  winter.  As  it  turned  out,  in 
thus  losing  his  life  he  was  saving  it  as  he  was  un- 
wittingly taking  what  is  now  known  as  the  fresh 
air  cure.  His  health  had  been  restored  when  he 
went  to  Virginia  and  after  settling  in  Hanover 
he  married  again,  October  4,  1748.  When  he 
went  to  Princeton  he  became  an  indoor  man. 
He  left  off  his  habit  of  riding  and  gave  himself 
up  to  study,  rising  with  the  dawn  and  continuing 
his  labors  till  midnight.  The  ailment  of  which  he 
died  started  as  a  bad  cold  and  then  fever  set  in, 
ending  fatally  after  an  illness  of  ten  days.  He 
was  only  in  his  thirty-eighth  year. 

Although  Davies  was  not  himself  of  Scotch- 
Irish  stock  yet  his  career  is  so  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  spread  of  the  Scotch-Irish 
settlements  in  the  South  and  Southwest  and  was 
such  a  formative  influence  that  it  merits  special 
consideration.  For  one  thing  the  evidence  points 
strongly  to  the  fact  that  Davies  was  the  founder 
of  a  school  of  oratory  that  profoundly  affected 
forensic  method  in  America,  whether  in  the 
forum,  in  the  pulpit  or  at  the  bar.  It  is  known 
that  Patrick  Henry  as  a  child  used  to  be  taken  to 
hear  Davies  preach,  and  in  after  life  he  used  to 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  391 

say  that  he  had  drawn  inspiration  from  Davies 
for  his  own  oratory,  which  certainly  bears  the 
marks  of  Davies's  style.  An  extract  will  be  suf- 
ficient proof.  After  Braddock's  defeat  in  1755 
Davies  was  active  in  rousing  the  people  to  defend 
the  frontier  against  the  French  and  Indians,  and 
on  May  8,  1758,  by  invitation  he  preached  a  ser- 
mon to  the  militia  of  Hanover  County,  at  a  gen- 
eral muster.    In  this  discourse  Davies  said : 

"Need  I  inform  you  what  barbarities  and 
depredations  a  mongrel  race  of  Indian  sav- 
ages and  French  Papists  have  perpetrated 
upon  our  frontiers  ?  How  many  deserted  or 
demolished  houses  and  plantations?  How 
wide  an  extent  of  country  abandoned  ?  How 
many  poor  families  obliged  to  fly  in  conster- 
nation and  leave  their  all  behind  them? 
What  breaches  and  separations  between  the 
nearest  relations?  What  painful  ruptures 
of  heart  from  heart?  What  shocking  dis- 
persions of  those  once  united  by  strongest 
and  most  endearing  ties?  Some  lie  dead, 
mangled  with  savage  wounds,  consumed  to 
ashes  with  outrageous  flames,  or  torn  and  de- 
voured by  the  beasts  of  the  wilderness,  while 
their  bones  lie  whitening  in  the  sun,  and 
serve  as  tragical  memorials  of  the  fatal  spot 
where  they  fell.  Others  have  been  dragged 
away  as  captives  and  made  the  slaves  of  cruel 
and  imperious  savages;  others  have  made 
their  escape,  and  live  to  lament  their  butch- 
ered or  captivated  friends  and  relations.  Ik 
short,  our  frontiers  have  been  drenched  with 
the  blood  of  our  fellow- subjects  through  the 


392  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

length  of  a  thousand  miles,  and  new  wounds 
are  still  opening.  We,  in  those  inland  parts 
of  the  country  are  as  yet  unmolested, 
through  the  unmerited  mercy  of  Heaven. 
But  let  us  glance  a  thought  to  the  western 
extremities  of  our  body-politic,  and  what 
melancholly  scenes  open  to  our  view!  Now 
perhaps  while  I  am  speaking,  now  while  you 
are  secure  and  unmolested,  our  fellow  sub- 
jects there  may  be  feeling  the  calamities  I 
am  now  describing.  Now,  perhaps,  the  sav- 
age shouts  and  whoops  of  Indians  and  the 
screams  and  groans  of  some  butchered  fam- 
ily, may  be  mingling  their  horrors  and  cir- 
culating their  tremendous  echoes  through  the 
wilderness  of  rocks  and  mountains.' ' 

Davies  had  a  successor  in  the  Valley  of  Vir- 
ginia who  perhaps  attained  even  greater  fame  as 
an  orator,  though  this  was  probably  due  to  acci- 
dental circumstances  rather  than  to  real  pre- 
eminence. This  was  James  Waddel,  who  was 
born  at  Newry  in  the  North  of  Ireland  in  July, 
1739,  but  emigrated  with  his  parents  to  Pennsyl- 
vania while  a  child.  He  was  educated  at  the 
school  of  Dr.  Samuel  Finley  (later  President  of 
the  college  at  Princeton),  at  Nottingham,  Cecil 
County,  Md.  He  intended  to  practice  medicine 
but  entered  the  ministry  through  Davies's  influ- 
ence. He  was  licensed  in  1762  and  in  1764  re- 
ceived a  call  to  Tinkling  Springs  Church  to 
succeed  Craig,  who  had  retired,  but  declined  it  in 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  393 

favor  of  a  charge  on  the  Northern  Neck,  where 
he  remained  until  his  health  was  broken  by  the 
malarial  fever  prevalent  in  that  region.  In  1776, 
another  call  having  been  made  by  Tinkling 
Springs  Church,  he  accepted  it  and  his  health  im- 
proved in  the  mountain  air.  In  1783  he  organized 
a  congregation  at  Staunton  to  which  he  minis- 
tered in  conjunction  with  his  Tinkling  Springs 
charge,  the  joint  salary  being  forty-five  pounds. 
A  few  years  later  he  removed  to  an  estate  which 
he  had  purchased  in  Louisa,  where  he  taught  a 
select  school.  He  was  a  fine  classical  scholar,  and 
a  man  of  cultivated  literary  taste.  Some  of  his 
pupils  became  men  of  distinction,  such  as  Gover- 
nor Barbour  of  Virginia  and  Meriwether  Lewis, 
the  explorer  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  After  his 
removal  to  Louisa  he  lost  his  sight  from  cataract, 
but  continued  to  preach,  and  it  was  during  that 
period  that  William  Wirt,  then  a  rising  lawyer, 
later  Attorney- General  of  the  United  States,  was 
thrilled  by  Waddel's  eloquence,  and  wrote  an 
account  of  it  that  has  become  classic. 

Wirt  relates  that  he  was  traveling  through 
Orange  County  when  his  eye  "was  caught  by  a 
cluster  of  horses  tied  near  a  ruinous,  old  wooden 
house,  in  the  forest  not  far  from  the  roadside." 
Moved  chiefly  by  curiosity  he  stopped,  "to  hear 
the  preacher  of  such  a  wilderness."  On  entering 
he  saw  "a  tall  and  very  spare  old  man ;  his  head, 


394  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

which  was  covered  with  a  white  linen  cap,  his 
shriveled  hands  and  his  voice,  were  all  shaking 
under  the  influence  of  the  palsy;  and  a  few  mo- 
ments ascertained  to  me  that  he  was  perfectly 
blind."  Evidently  there  was  nothing  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  preacher  to  prepare  Wirt  for 
what  was  to  follow.  He  goes  on  to  say :  "It  was 
a  day  of  the  administration  of  the  sacrament; 
and  his  subject,  of  course,  was  the  passion  of  the 
Saviour.  I  had  heard  the  subject  handled  a 
thousand  times ;  I  thought  it  exhausted  long  ago. 
Little  did  I  suppose  that  in  the  wild  woods  of 
America,  I  wras  to  meet  with  a  man  whose  elo- 
quence would  give  to  this  topic  a  new  and  more 
sublime  pathos,  than  I  had  ever  before  wit- 
nessed." Wirt  gives  a  vivid  account  of  the  effect 
upon  the  congregation  of  the  picture  drawn  by 
the  preacher  of  the  scene  of  the  Crucifixion: 

"I  began  to  be  very  uneasy  for  the  situ- 
ation of  the  preacher.  For  I  could  not  con- 
ceive how  he  would  be  able  to  let  his  audience 
down  from  the  height  to  which  he  had  wound 
them,  without  impairing  the  solemnity  and 
dignity  of  his  subject,  or  perhaps  shocking 
them  by' the  abruptness  of  the  fall.  But — 
no ;  the  descent  was  as  beautiful  and  sublime 
as  the  elevation  had  been  rapid  and  enthusi- 
astic. .  .  . 

"The  first  sentence  with  which  he  broke 
the  awful  silence,  was  a  quotation  from 
Rousseau:  'Socrates  died  like  a  philosopher, 
but  Jesus  Christ  like  a  God.' 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  395 

"I  despair  of  giving  you  any  idea  of  the 
effect  produced  by  this  short  sentence,  un- 
less you  could  perfectly  conceive  the  whole 
manner  of  the  man,  as  well  as  the  peculiar 
crisis  in  the  discourse.  Never  before  did  I 
completely  understand  what  Demosthenes 
meant  by  laying  such  stress  on  delivery. 
You  are  to  bring  before  you  the  venerable 
figure  of  the  preacher;  his  blindness,  con- 
stantly recalling  to  your  recollection  old 
Homer,  Ossian  and  Milton,  and  associating 
with  his  performance  the  melancholly  gran- 
deur of  their  geniuses;  you  are  to  imagine 
that  you  hear  his  slow,  solemn,  well  accented 
enunciation,  and  his  voice  of  affecting, 
trembling  melody ;  you  are  to  remember  the 
pitch  of  passion  and  enthusiasm  to  which  the 
congregation  were  raised;  and  then  the  few 
moments  of  portentous  deathlike  silence 
which  reigned  throughout  the  house;  the 
preacher  removing  his  white  handkerchief 
from  his  aged  face  (even  yet  wet  from 
the  recent  torrent  of  his  tears),  and  slowly 
stretching  forth  the  palsied  hand  which  holds 
it,  begins  the  sentence,  ' Socrates  died  like  a 
philosopher' — then  pausing,  raising  his  other 
hand,  pressing  them  both  clasped  together, 
with  warmth  and  energy  to  his  breast,  lift- 
ing his  sightless  eyes  to  heaven  and  pouring 
his  whole  soul  into  his  tremulous  voice, — 'but 
Jesus  Christ — like  a  God!'  If  he  had  been 
indeed  and  in  truth  an  angel  of  light,  the 
effect  could  scarcely  have  been  more 
divine.  .  .  . 

"If  this  description  gives  you  the  impres- 
sion, that  this  incomparable  minister  had 


396  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

anything  of  shallow,  theatrical  tricks  in  his 
manner,  it  does  him  great  injustice.  I  have 
never  seen  in  any  other  orator  such  a  union 
of  simplicity  and  majesty.  He  has  not  a 
gesture,  an  attitude  or  an  accent,  to  which 
he  does  not  seem  forced  by  the  sentiment 
which  he  is  expressing.  His  mind  is  too 
serious,  too  earnest,  too  solicitous,  and  at  the 
same  time,  too  dignified,  to  stoop  to  artifice. 
Although  as  far  removed  from  ostentation 
as  a  man  can  be,  yet  it  is  clear  from  the  train, 
the  style,  and  substance  of  his  thoughts  that 
he  is,  not  only  a  very  polite  scholar,  but  a 
man  of  extensive  and  profound  erudition. 

"This  man  has  been  before  my  imagina- 
tion almost  ever  since.  A  thousand  times, 
as  I  rode  along,  I  dropped  the  reins  of  my 
bridle,  stretched  forth  my  hand,  and  tried  to 
imitate  his  quotation  from  Rousseau;  a  thou- 
sand times  I  abandoned  the  attempt  in  de- 
spair, and  felt  persuaded  that  his  peculiar 
manner  and  power  arose  from  an  energy  of 
soul,  which  nature  could  give,  but  which 
no   human   being   could   justly   copy.  .  .  . 

"Guess  my  surprise,  when  on  my  arrival 
at  Richmond,  and  mentioning  the  name  of 
this  man,  I  found  not  one  person  who  had 
ever  before  heard  of  James  Waddel!!  Is  it 
not  strange,  that  such  a  genius  as  this,  so  ac- 
complished a  scholar,  so  divine  an  orator, 
should  be  permitted  to  languish  and  die  in 
obscurity,  within  eighty  miles  of  the  me- 
tropolis of  Virginia?" 

These  rather  copious  extracts  have  been  given 

of  Wirt's  description  of  a  pioneer  Scotch-Irish 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  397 

preacher  because  of  the  force  with  which  they  dis- 
play the  fact  that  although  preachers  of  his  class 
may  have  been  poor  in  circumstances  and  ob- 
scure in  social  position  they  could  be  great 
orators  and  erudite  scholars.  At  the  time  Scotch- 
Irish  immigration  became  a  notable  influence  in 
the  population  of  the  colonies  the  American  sea- 
board had  been  settled  over  a  century,  and  a 
social  elegance  had  been  established  in  the  older 
capitals  vying  with  that  of  the  old  country,  whose 
fashions  in  life  and  literature  were  assiduously 
copied  by  provincial  coteries.  As  has  already 
been  pointed  out  Scotch-Irish  immigration  flowed 
around  and  beyond  the  old  settlements  into  new 
territory,  carrying  with  the  stream  an  educated 
clergy  whose  high  attainments  were  unknown  to 
the  centers  of  American  culture.  As  Mr.  Wirt 
remarked,  nobody  in  Richmond  had  ever  heard 
of  Waddel.  But  despite  this  obscurity  Waddel 
was  the  exponent  of  a  forensic  method  that 
founded  a  school  of  oratory  and  had  a  marked 
effect  upon  literary  style.  The  evidence  points 
strongly  to  the  fact  that  the  Scotch-Irish  preach- 
ers were  the  agents  by  whom  heavy  prose  style 
derived  from  England  was  superseded  by  the 
warm,  vivid,  direct  energetic  expression  of 
thought  and  feelings  characteristic  of  American 
oratory  from  the  time  of  Patrick  Henry  down  to 
the  present  time.    The  eighteenth  century  stands 


398  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

out  in  English  literature  as  a  transition  period. 
The  luxuriance  of  Elizabethan  forms  was  trim- 
med and  repressed.  Literature  was  made  neat 
and  formal.  In  the  hands  of  such  masters  as 
Johnson  and  Gibbon  prose  style  attained  a  stately 
elegance  that  suggests  the  silk  waistcoats  and  the 
full  bottomed  wigs  of  the  period.  In  the  hands 
of  less  skillful  practitioners  it  was  a  style  that 
inclined  to  ungainly  affectations  and  cumbrous 
pedantry.  Illustrations  of  these  characteristics 
abound  in  the  works  of  the  Mathers,  particularly 
in  Cotton  Mather's  Magnalia.  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards exhibits  probably  the  highest  colonial  at- 
tainment in  the  classic  form  of  eighteenth  century 
style.  Together  with  precision  of  form  and  logi- 
cal force  he  combined  a  pithy  directness  of  ex- 
pression that  was  the  precursor  of  the  simplicity 
and  ease  of  nineteenth  century  prose.  But  eman- 
cipation of  pulpit  style  and  political  oratory  from 
the  artificiality  of  eighteenth  century  method  was 
the  work  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield  in  England, 
men  whose  zeal  and  emotion  needed  ampler  chan- 
nels for  expression  than  were  afforded  by  the 
conventional  forms.  The  Tennents,  particularly 
Gilbert  Tennent,  substituted  the  new  hortatory 
method  for  the  old  pulpit  dissertation,  under 
the  direct  influence  of  Whitefield  and  in  close 
association  with  him  during  his  American  tour. 
How  effective  that  method  was  in  impressing  the 


EXPANSION  SOUTH  AND  WEST  399 

feelings  and  in  influencing  conduct,  we  have  im- 
pressive testimony  from  Benjamin  Franklin, 
than  whom  there  could  be  no  more  prudent  and 
circumspect  an  observer.  In  his  Autobiography 
he  tells  in  the  plain,  matter-of-fact,  unemotional 
style  characteristic  of  the  man  how  in  spite  of 
himself  he  had  to  yield  his  judgment  to  the  per- 
suasion of  Whitefield's  eloquence. 

The  new  style,  which  was  in  effect  a  personal 
harangue,  was  liable  to  serious  defects.  It  ad- 
mitted possibilities  of  rant  and  incoherence 
against  which  the  older  method  guarded.  Criti- 
cism on  this  score  was  directed  against  Gil- 
bert Tennent  himself.  It  appears  to  have  been 
the  special  work  of  Davies  and  his  successors  to 
systematize  the  new  method,  imparting  to  it  dig- 
nity and  character,  and  establishing  its  artistic 
canons.  In  so  doing  a  distinctively  American 
school  of  oratory  was  founded,  whose  best  ex- 
amplies  vie  with  the  finest  passages  of  literature 
the  world  can  furnish.  But  it  is  also  a  method 
that  in  incapable  hands  produces  the  style  that 
has  become  popularly  known  as  "highfalutin." 
Tinsel  rhetoric,  affected  emotion  and  pumped 
enthusiasm  became  ordinary  adjuncts  of  public 
discourse,  and  dreadful  examples  of  this  sort 
may  still  be  found  in  the  Congressional  Record. 
But  the  fact  that  the  style  has  degenerated  until 
it  is  now  insufferable  does  not  detract  from  the 


400  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

merit  of  the  masters  who  unconsciously  originated 
it,  in  adapting  pulpit  method  to  the  needs  of  the 
times.  With  them  that  style  was  unaffected, 
natural  and  sincere.  The  literary  emancipation 
in  which  they  were  leaders  remains  as  a  perma- 
nent gain  since  to  it  modern  prose  owes  its  ease 
and  freedom.  • 


CHAPTER  XV 

Some  Pioneer  Preachers 

The  first  settled  pastor  in  North  Carolina  ap- 
pears to  have  been  Hugh  McAden  who  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  of  Scotch-Irish  parentage.  He 
was  graduated  at  Nassau  Hall  in  1753,  was  li- 
censed by  New  Castle  Presbytery  in  1755,  and 
set  out  soon  after  on  a  missionary  tour  through- 
out North  Carolina,  his  journal  of  which  has 
been  preserved.  He  was  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Shenandoah  when  the  news  reached  him  of  Brad- 
dock's  defeat.  He  made  the  following  entry  in 
his  journal: 

"Here  it  was  I  received  the  most  melan- 
cholly  news  of  the  entire  defeat  of  our  army 
by  the  French  at  Ohio,  the  General  killed, 
numbers  of  the  inferior  officers,  and  the 
whole  artillery  taken.  This,  together  with 
the  frequent  account  of  fresh  murders  being 
daily  committed  upon  the  frontiers  struck 
terror  to  every  heart.  A  cold  shuddering, 
possessed  every  breast,  and  paleness  covered 
almost  every  face.  In  short,  the  whole  in- 
habitants were  put  into  an  universal  con- 
fusion. Scarcely  any  man  durst  sleep  in  his 
own  house,  but  all  met  in  companies  with 

401 


402  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

their  wives  and  children  and  set  about  build- 
ing little  fortifications,  to  defend  themselves 
from  such  barbarian  and  inhuman  enemies, 
whom  they  concluded  would  be  let  loose 
upon  them  at  pleasure." 

McAden  crossed  the  Blue  Ridge  with  an 
armed  escort,  and  went  southward,  holding  meet- 
ings as  he  went  along.  The  first  religious  services 
by  him  in  North  Carolina  were  held  August  3, 
1755.  Although  there  was  no  settled  pastor  in 
North  Carolina  at  that  time  there  were  already 
some  Presbyterian  meeting-houses  in  which  the 
people  used  to  gather  for  worship.  McAden 
went  from  place  to  place  preaching  and  organiz- 
ing, using  any  convenient  place  for  the  purpose. 
He  records  that  at  one  place  he  preached  in  a 
Baptist  meeting-house  to  a  people  "who  seemed 
very  inquisitive  about  the  way  to  Zion."  At 
another  time  he  "came  up  with  a  large  company 
of  men,  women  and  children  who  had  fled  for 
their  lives  from  the  Cow  and  Calf  pasture  in 
Virginia,  from  whom  I  received  the  melancholly 
account  that  the  Indians  were  still  doing  a  great 
deal  of  mischief  in  those  parts,  by  murdering  and 
destroying  several  of  the  inhabitants,  and  banish- 
ing the  rest  from  their  houses  and  livings,  where- 
by they  are  forced  to  fly  into  desert  places." 

McAden  himself  was  exposed  to  peril  from 
the  Indians  in  North  Carolina,  when  he  extended 
his  missionary  tour  into  the  country  occupied  by 


SOME  PIONEER  PREACHERS  403 

the  Catawba  Indians,  south  of  the  river  that 
perpetuates  their  name.  He  intended  to  visit 
some  settlements  on  Broad  River,  two  young 
men  from  which  had  come  to  guide  him.  At  one 
place  just  as  they  stopped  to  get  breakfast  they 
were  surrounded  by  Indians,  shouting  and  hal- 
looing, and  prying  into  their  baggage.  The 
travelers  moved  off  as  fast  as  possible  and  the 
Indians  did  nothing  more  than  to  make  noisy 
demonstrations.  Later  on  they  passed  a  camp 
of  Indian  hunters  who  shouted  to  them  to  stop 
but  they  pushed  on  as  fast  as  possible.  Not 
until  they  had  ridden  twenty-five  miles  did  they 
feel  it  safe  to  stop  and  get  breakfast.  McAden's 
tour  extended  into  the  northwestern  section  of 
South  Carolina,  never  previously  visited  by 
clergymen.  He  notes  on  November  2  that  he 
preached  to  people  "many  of  whom  I  was  told 
had  never  heard  a  sermon,  in  all  their  lives  before, 
and  yet  several  of  them  had  families."  McAden 
relates  an  anecdote  told  him  of  an  old  man,  who 
said  to  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  when  in 
those  parts  in  treaty  with  the  Cherokee  Indians, 
that  he  "had  never  seen  a  shirt,  been  in  a  fair, 
heard  a  sermon  or  seen  a  minister."  The  Gover- 
nor promised  to  send  a  minister,  that  he  might 
hear  one  sermon  before  he  died.  A  minister  came 
and  preached;  and  this  was  all  the  preaching  that 
had  been  heard  in  the  upper  part  of  South  Caro- 
lina before  McAden's  visit. 


404  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

From  this  country  McAden  returned  to  North 
Carolina,  and  preaching  as  he  went  he  reached 
Virginia  and  passed  through  Amelia  County  to 
the  house  of  a  friend  on  the  James  River,  at 
which  point  his  diary  abruptly  closes  on  May 
9,  1756.  McAden  returned  to  South  Carolina 
and  became  the  settled  minister  of  the  congrega- 
tions in  Duplin  and  New  Hanover.  In  1759  he 
joined  Hanover  Presbytery  which  then  included 
the  greater  part  of  Virginia  and  extended  in- 
definitely southward.  After  a  pastorate  of  ten 
years  his  health  became  so  poor  that  he  resigned 
his  charge  and  moved  to  Caswell  County,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  June  20,  1781.  To 
the  extent  that  his  health  permitted  he  continued 
preaching  up  to  the  close  of  his  career.  Two 
weeks  before  his  death  British  forces  encamped 
in  the  grounds  about  the  Red  House  Church, 
close  to  McAden's  dwelling.  They  ransacked 
his  house,  destroying  many  of  his  private  papers. 
His  remains  lie  in  the  burial  ground  of  that 
Church,  about  five  miles  from  the  present  town 
of  Milton,  N.  C. 

Presbyterianism  in  Kentucky  as  in  the  Caro- 
linas  was  introduced  by  Scotch-Irish  influence. 
Originally  Kentucky  was  regarded  as  a  part  of 
Fincastle  County,  Virginia.  It  was  set  off  as  a 
separate  county,  with  a  municipal  court,  in  1776. 
Among  the  first  settlers  such  Scotch-Irish  names 


SOME  PIONEER  PREACHERS  405 

occur  as  McAfee,  McCoun  and  McGee.  The  set- 
tlers drew  their  ministerial  supplies  from  the 
Virginia  Synod,  the  period  being  so  late  that  as 
a  rule  they  were  American  born.  Among  them 
however  was  Robert  Marshall,  who  was  born  in 
County  Down,  Ireland,  November  27, 1760.  His 
parents  came  to  Western  Pennsylvania  in  the 
stream  of  emigration  that  flowed  strongly  just 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of  Independence. 
He  enlisted  in  the  army,  although  only  a  youth  of 
sixteen,  and  took  part  in  six  general  engage- 
ments, one  of  which  was  the  battle  of  Monmouth, 
where  he  made  a  narrow  escape,  a  bullet  grazing 
the  hair  of  his  head.  He  kept  up  his  study  of 
mathematics  while  in  the  army  and  after  the 
war  began  studying  for  the  ministry,  being  then 
twenty-three.  He  was  licensed  by  Redstone 
Presbytery  and  entered  the  Virginia  field.  He 
removed  to  Kentucky  in  1791,  as  a  missionary 
appointed  by  the  Synod.  He  was  ordained  June 
13,  1793,  as  pastor  of  Bethel  and  Blue  Spring 
Churches. 

An  early  missionary  whose  activities  extended 
not  only  into  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  but 
also  western  Pennsylvania  and  eventually  Ohio 
was  Charles  Beatty.  He  was  born  in  County 
Antrim,  Ireland,  some  time  between  1712  and 
1715.  He  accompanied  a  party  of  Scotch-Irish 
who  emigrated  to  America  in  1729,  and  after  a 


406  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

stay  in  New  England  made  a  settlement  in  what 
is  now  Orange  County,  New  York.  Although  he 
had  received  a  classical  education  Beatty  became 
a  pedlar  and  his  entrance  in  the  ministry  is  at- 
tributed to  an  accidental  encounter  with  William 
Tennent.  Beatty  happened  to  call  at  the  Log 
College  while  on  a  trading  tour,  and  as  a  jocose 
recognition  of  its  pretensions  as  an  institute  of 
learning  used  Latin  in  offering  his  wares.  Ten- 
nent replied  in  Latin,  and  the  conversation  de- 
veloped such  evidences  of  capacity  in  Beatty  that 
Tennent  counselled  him  to  give  up  his  pedlar's 
business  and  prepare  for  the  ministry.  He  pur- 
sued his  studies  at  the  Log  College  and  was 
licensed  by  New  Brunswick  Presbytery  in  1742. 
He  was  called  to  the  Forks  of  Neshaminy,  May 
26,  1743.  In  1754  the  Synod  sent  him  to  Vir- 
ginia and  North  Carolina. 

This  was  not  long  prior  to  Braddock's  defeat 
and  that  event  probably  interrupted  Beatty's 
Southern  labors  for  he  was  back  again  in  Penn- 
sylvania in  1755,  and  acted  as  chaplain  to  the 
forces  led  by  Benjamin  Franklin.  Franklin  had 
been  commissioned  by  the  Governor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania to  take  charge  of  the  frontier  and  provide 
for  the  defense  of  the  settlers  by  building  forts 
and  establishing  garrisons.  He  recruited  a  force 
of  560  and  set  out  for  Gnadenhutten,  a  village 
settled  by  the  Moravians.    Indians  had  attacked 


SOME  PIONEER  PREACHERS  407 

it  slaying  the  inhabitants,  and  Franklin  thought 
it  was  important  that  one  of  the  proposed 
forts  should  be  erected  there.  Franklin  estab- 
lished his  base  at  Bethlehem,  which  although 
in  a  county  now  in  the  tier  immediately  west  of 
New  Jersey  was  at  that  time  close  to  Indian 
country.  Detachments  were  sent  out  to  various 
points,  Franklin  himself  accompanying  one  that 
went  to  Gnadenhutten.  During  the  march  ten 
farmers  who  had  received  from  Franklin  supplies 
of  ammunition,  with  which  they  thought  they 
could  defend  their  homes,  were  killed  by  the  In- 
dians. Franklin  himself  had  some  anxiety  as  it 
rained  heavily,  and  he  remarked:  "It  was  well 
we  were  not  attacked  in  our  march,  for  our  arms 
were  the  most  ordinary  sort,  and  our  men  could 
not  keep  the  locks  of  their  guns  dry.  The  In- 
dians are  dexterous  in  contrivances  for  that  pur- 
pose which  we  had  not."  The  first  night  out 
from  Bethlehem  the  party  took  shelter  from  the 
rain  in  a  barn,  where  says  Franklin  "we  were  all 
huddled  together  as  wet  as  water  could  make  us." 
The  next  day  they  arrived  at  Gnadenhutten 
where  their  first  task  was  to  bury  the  bodies  of  the 
massacred  inhabitants.  Beatty  accompanied  the 
troops  through  these  scenes,  looking  zealously 
after  their  welfare.  Franklin  describes  Beatty's 
activity  with  sly  humor: 


408  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

"We  had  for  our  chaplain  a  zealous  Pres- 
byterian minister,  Mr.  Beatty,  who  com- 
plained to  me  that  the  men  did  not  generally 
attend  his  prayers  and  exhortations.  When 
they  were  enlisted  they  were  promised,  be- 
sides pay  and  provisions,  a  gill  of  rum  a  day, 
which  was  punctually  served  out  to  them, 
half  in  the  morning  and  the  other  half  in  the 
evening ;  and  I  observed  they  were  punctual 
in  attending  to  receive  it ;  upon  which  I  said 
to  Mr.  Beatty,  'It  is  perhaps  below  the  dig- 
nity of  your  profession  to  act  as  a  steward  of 
the  rum ;  but  if  you  were  only  to  distribute  it 
out  after  prayers,  you  would  have  them  all 
about  you.'  He  liked  the  thought,  under- 
took the  task,  and  with  the  help  of  a  few 
hands  to  measure  out  the  liquor,  executed  it 
to  satisfaction ;  and  never  were  prayers  more 
generally  and  more  punctually  attended." 

A  fort  was  erected  at  Gnadenhutten  and  soon 
afterward  Beatty  left  to  go  into  Bucks  County 
and  aid  in  recruiting.  His  services  in  that  re- 
spect were  specially  valuable  as  the  Scotch-Irish 
were  a  leading  source  of  supply  for  soldiers  both 
in  the  Indian  wars  and  later  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  In  1756  the  Synod  made  a  dispensation 
of  his  services  in  favor  of  his  service  to  the 
Government,  but  in  1759  when  there  was  another 
call  by  the  Pennsylvania  authorities  for  his  ser- 
vices, the  Synod  on  account  of  the  state  of  his 
congregation  advised  him  not  to  go,  but  he  was 
permitted  to  act  as  chaplain  to  Colonel  Arm- 
strong's regiment. 


SOME  PIONEER  PREACHERS  409 

Beatty's  ability  and  energy  made  him  much  in 
request  for  missionary  work  of  any  kind.  In 
1760  the  Corporation  for  the  Widows'  Fund  sent 
him  to  Great  Britain  to  raise  funds  and  he  went 
with  letters  of  introduction  from  Davies  and 
others.  He  was  quite  successful  in  this  mission, 
making  collections  in  England  and  inducing  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Scottish  Kirk  to  order 
a  national  collection.  After  his  return  to 
America  Beatty  engaged  in  missionary  work 
that  carried  him  through  Western  Pennsylvania 
into  Ohio.  In  1766  the  Synod  sent  Beatty  on 
a  missionary  tour  to  the  frontiers  of  the  Province. 
Starting  from  Carlisle,  Pa.,  in  August  of  that 
year,  he  penetrated  as  far  west  as  the  Indian 
country  on  the  Muskingum  River,  Ohio,  130 
miles  beyond  Port  Pitt,  now  Pittsburgh,  and  he 
made  an  encouraging  report  as  to  the  prospects 
of  missionary  work  among  the  Indians.  In  1768 
Beatty  made  another  visit  to  Great  Britain,  this 
time  to  put  his  wife  under  surgical  treatment, 
but  she  died  soon  after  landing.  Beatty  returned 
to  his  ministerial  labors  in  America,  but  a  few 
years  later  he  was  again  called  to  solicit  funds 
for  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  In  that  interest 
he  sailed  for  the  West  Indies,  but  died  August 
13,  1772,  soon  after  reaching  Bridgetown  in 
Barbados. 

Another  pioneer  of  Presbyterianism  in  the 


410  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

West  was  John  Steele,  who  came  to  America  in 
1742,  as  a  probationer  from  Londonderry  Pres- 
bytery. He  was  ordained  by  New  Castle  Pres- 
bytery, some  time  before  May,  1744.  He  was 
sent  to  the  frontier  and  ministered  to  a  congre- 
gation in  the  Upper  West  Settlement,  now  Mer- 
cersburg,  Franklin  County,  Pa.  This  region  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  central  section  of  the 
State  was  then  Indian  country.  Steele,  who 
was  a  man  of  courage  and  determination,  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  his  flock  as  its  leader  in 
war  as  well  as  peace.  He  fortified  his  church, 
and  if  it  became  necessary  to  send  out  a  force 
against  the  Indians  he  led  it.  A  captain's  com- 
mission was  issued  to  him  and  he  held  it  several 
years.  He  spent  his  life  in  the  western  country. 
In  1768  Penn  solicited  his  aid  to  make  a  peace- 
able settlement  with  people  who  had  squatted  on 
land  in  the  Youghiogheny  region,  and  Steele 
visited  the  country  for  that  purpose,  assembling 
the  people  and  reasoning  with  them.  He  died  in 
August,  1779. 

Another  noted  pioneer  in  the  western  advance 
of  Presbyterianism  was  James  Finley,  who  was 
boi-n  in  County  Armagh,  Ireland,  in  February, 
1725,  but  was  educated  in  America  under  Samuel 
Blair  at  the  Fagg's  Manor  school.  He  was 
licensed  by  New  Castle  Presbytery  and  in  1752 
was  ordained  pastor  of  East  Nottingham  Church, 


SOME  PIONEER  PREACHERS  411 

Cecil  County,  Md.  In  addition  to  pastoral  work 
he  engaged  in  teaching.  As  lands  in  the 
West  became  open  for  occupation  emigration 
among  Finley's  people  began  on  so  large  a  scale 
that  he  joined  the  movement.  He  crossed  the 
mountains  in  1765  and  again  in  1767.  Thirty- 
four  heads  of  families  belonging  to  Finley's  con- 
gregation settled  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  emigrants  included  three  of  Finley's  sons. 
He  asked  for  a  demission  from  his  charge,  that 
he  might  follow  them,  but  the  congregation  was 
loath  to  give  him  up,  and  the  Presbytery  refused 
his  application.  He  appealed  to  the  Synod 
which  dissolved  the  pastoral  relation,  May  17, 
1782.  He  was  called  to  Rehoboth  and  Round 
Hill,  both  in  the  Forks  of  the  Youghiogheny,  in 
the  fall  of  1784.  He  was  commissioned  by  the 
State  Government  both  as  Justice  of  the  Peace 
and  as  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas.  He  retained 
his  Youghiogheny  charge  until  his  death,  Janu- 
ary 6,  1795. 

Church  organization  in  western  Pennsylvania 
was  later  than  in  Virginia  for  the  reason  that 
early  emigration  from  the  seaboard  tended  south- 
ward rather  than  westward.  The  valleys  stretch- 
ing from  middle  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland 
into  Virginia  supplied  the  lines  of  least  resistance 
upon  which  the  settlement  of  the  interior  pro- 
gressed.    Hanover  Presbytery  in  Virginia  was 


412  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

organized  in  1755;  Carlisle  Presbytery  in  cen- 
tral Pennsylvania  was  not  organized  until  1765. 
The  first  Presbytery  organized  in  western  Penn- 
sylvania was  Redstone  in  1781,  which  became  the 
parent  of  Presbyteries  in  the  western  country 
north  of  the  Ohio  just  as  Hanover  Presbytery 
became  the  parent  of  Presbyteries  in  the  South 
and  Southwest. 

Although  Presbyterianism  was  historically  the 
ecclesiastical  form  with  which  the  Scotch-Irish 
stock  was  originally  identified,  transplantation  to 
the  United  States  was  soon  followed  by  variation. 
New  England  Congregationalism  was  recruited 
by  Ulster  emigration.  After  the  Revolutionary 
War  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  attracted 
adherents.  The  son  of  James  Wilson  resigned 
a  judgeship  to  enter  the  Episcopal  ministry,  and 
Bishop  Mcllvaine  came  of  a  stock  that  origi- 
nally belonged  to  a  Scotch-Irish  settlement  in 
Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania.  Bishop  McKen- 
dree,  whose  labors  did  much  to  extend  the  mem- 
bership of  the  Methodist  Church,  came  of  Scotch- 
Irish  stock.  Alexander  Campbell,  who  in  1827 
founded  a  denomination  that  now  ranks  sixth 
among  American  ecclesiastical  bodies  in  number 
of  adherents,  was  born  at  Shaws  Castle,  County 
Antrim,  1786. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Scotch-Irish  Educational  Institutions 

The  fact  that  originally  Presbyterianism  was 
the  product  of  historical  research  naturally  set 
up  standards  of  scholarship  for  its  ministry.  The 
grounds  upon  which  rested  the  doctrine  of  the 
parity  of  ministerial  orders  in  the  primitive 
Church  were  not  to  be  discerned  by  inward  light 
nor  apprehended  by  emotional  fervor.  It  was  a 
matter  calling  for  historical  knowledge,  involv- 
ing familiarity  with  the  languages  in  which  the 
records  of  the  primitive  Church  were  preserved. 
Presbyterian  ministry  thus  implied  educated 
ministry  from  its  very  nature. 

Institutions  of  learning  were  therefore  a 
necessary  accompaniment  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  In  Ulster  it  was  the  regular  thing  for 
a  candidate  for  the  ministry  to  go  to  Scotland  to 
get  a  classical  education  as  the  foundation  of  his 
theological  studies.  This  insistence  upon  schol- 
arship as  a  ministerial  qualification  was  sharp- 
ened by  sectarian  tendencies  in  favor  of  substi- 
tuting zeal  for  knowledge  and  private  inspiration 
for  historical  evidence.    To  fortify  the  ministry 

413 


414  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

against  such  tendencies  particular  attention  was 
paid  to  education  from  the  earliest  times.  The 
records  of  the  Ulster  Synod  show  that  the  edu- 
cational qualifications  of  the  ministry  received 
steady  care.  Conditions  in  the  New  World  put 
fresh  stress  upon  the  need  of  an  educated  minis- 
try. The  very  freedom  found  there  admitted  of 
vagaries  that  were  repugnant  to  the  orderly  in- 
stincts of  historical  Presbyterianism.  Zealots 
appeared  who  claimed  prophetic  authority  so 
that  they  assumed  the  right  to  examine  ministers 
as  to  their  opinions  and  behavior  and  pass  judg- 
ment upon  their  spiritual  state.  An  enthusiast 
who  once  had  a  large  following  required  his  fol- 
lowers to  give  a  practical  exhibition  of  their  re- 
nunciation of  idolatry  by  casting  into  the  flames 
some  ornament  or  finery  in  which  they  had  taken 
pride.  A  fire  was  actually  kindled  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  his  followers  each  took  off  some  article 
of  dress  or  some  ornament  and  tossed  it  into  the 
flames.  A  number  of  religious  books  which  he 
adjudged  heretical  were  also  cast  into  the  fire. 
Among  them  was  one  by  the  noted  Puritan  di- 
vine Dr.  Increase  Mather.  Dr.  Hodge  remarks 
of  this  period  that  an  "enthusiastical  and  fanati- 
cal spirit  .  .  .  swept  over  the  New  England 
churches.,, 

Gilbert  Tennent,  who  himself  gave  counte- 
nance to  the  movement  in  its  early  stages,  in  a 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     415 

letter  dated  February  12,  1742,  remarked  that 
"experience  had  given  him  a  clear  view  of  the 
danger  of  every  thing  which  tends  to  enthusiasm 
and  divisions  in  the  visible  Church."  He  added: 
"The  sending  out  of  unlearned  men  to  teach 
others,  upon  the  supposition  of  their  piety,  in 
ordinary  cases,  seems  to  bring  the  ministry  into 
contempt;  to  cherish  enthusiasm,  and  to  bring 
all  into  confusion.  Whatever  fair  face  it  may 
have,  it  is  a  most  perverse  practice."  This  con- 
clusion was  not  reached  until  after  controversies 
engendered  by  the  situation  had  disrupted  the 
Church,  but  in  the  end  the  effect  was  to  impress 
anew  the  need  of  an  educated  ministry  and  to 
incite  special  exertions  to  supply  the  means. 

As  has  been  set  forth  in  preceding  chapters,  an 
educated  ministry  accompanied  the  Scotch-Irish 
settlements  in  America.  But  Ireland  was  so  far 
away  and  communications  were  so  hard  and  so 
slow  that  America  could  not  depend  upon  Ulster 
as  a  source  in  the  way  that  Ulster  so  long  de- 
pended upon  Scotland.  It  was  a  comparatively 
brief  and  easy  matter  for  a  student  to  go  and 
come  between  Ulster  and  Scotland  by  the  short 
sea-ferry;  but  if  there  was  to  be  in  America  a 
native  born  educated  ministry,  institutions  of 
learning  had  to  be  set  up.  Considerations  of 
this  nature  had  impelled  the  New  England  Puri- 
tans to  found  Harvard  and  Yale.    Similar  edu- 


416  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

cational  activity  was  evinced  by  the  Ulster 
Presbyterians  when  they  settled  in  Pennsylvania. 
In  1726  William  Tennent,  an  Ulster  clergyman 
for  some  years  resident  in  America,  became  pas- 
tor of  the  church  at  Neshaminy,  Bucks  County, 
Pennsylvania.  In  1728  James  Logan  gave  Ten- 
nent fifty  acres  of  land  on  Neshaminy  Creek  "to 
encourage  him  to  prosecute  his  views,  and  make 
his  residence  near  us  permanent.' '  On  this  tract 
Tennent  put  up  a  school  house  and  as  it  was 
built  of  logs,  it  was  familiarly  known  as  the  Log 
Collegei^But  humble  as  was  the  building  the 
JcHolarship  it  sheltered  was  sound  in  quality  and 
ample  for  the  times.  No  vestige  of  the  building 
remains  but  its  work  goes  on. 

This  foundation,  since  so  famous,  passed  al- 
most unnoticed  at  the  time.  The  only  contempo- 
rary reference  appears  to  be  that  contained  in 
the  journal  of  George  Whitefield,  the  evangelist, 
who  visited  the  region  during  his  preaching  tours. 
He  made  the  following  quaint  entry  in  his  jour- 
nal for  1739: 

"The  place  wherein  the  young  men  study 
now  is,  in  contempt,  called  The  College.  It 
is  a  log  house,  about  twenty  feet  long,  and 
near  as  many  broad,  and  to  me,  it  seemed 
to  resemble  the  school  of  the  old  prophets, 
for  their  habitations  were  mean;  and  that 
they  sought  not  great  things  for  themselves 
is  plain  from  those  passages  of  Scripture 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     417 

wherein  we  are  told  that  each  of  them  took 
a  beam  to  build  them  a  house;  and  that 
at  the  feast  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets,  one 
of  them  put  on  the  pot,  whilst  the  others 
went  to  fetch  some  herbs  out  of  the  field. 
All  that  we  can  say  of  most  of  our  universi- 
n  ties  is  they  are  glorious  without.  From  this 
despised  place  seven  or  eight  worthy  minis- 
ters of  Jesus  have  lately  been  sent  forth, 
more  are  almost  ready  to  be  sent,  and  the 
foundation  is  now  laying  for  the  instruction 
of  many  others." 

Tennent  carried  on  this  school  almost  single- 
handed.  It  was  said  of  him  that  Latin  was  as 
familiar  as  his  mother  tongue.  According  to  a 
biographical  notice  published  in  1805,  "his  at- 
tainments in  science  are  not  so  well  known,  but 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  were  not  so 
great  as  his  skill  in  language."  As  a  teacher  he 
was  singularly  successful.  He  educated  for  the 
ministry  his  four  sons  who  added  to  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  family  name.  Among  his  pupils  were 
such  distinguished  men  as  Samuel  Blair,  John 
Rowland,  James  McCrea,  William  Robinson, 
John  Blair,  Samuel  Finley,  John  Roan,  Charles 
Beatty,  Daniel  Lawrence  and  William  Dean. 
Probably  no  other  school  ever  produced  so  many 
eminent  men  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its 
pupils.  It  was  in  this  way  the  Log  College  be- 
came progenitor  of  numerous  institutions  of 
learning,  and  not  through  any  corporate  connec- 


418  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

tion.  It  was  the  expression  of  the  powers  of  one 
individual  and  did  not  survive  him. 

The  Log  CoIle^e-4¥a^-ORly-Qnex)f  a  number  of 
schools  that  were  precursors  of  the  Princeton 
foundation.  There  was  not  until  1746,  in  all  the 
region  between  Connecticut  and  Virginia,  any  in- 
stitution authorized  to  confer  degrees.  But  the 
influx  of  Ulster  clergymen  led  to  the  establishing 
of  schools  that  did  valuable  work.  Samuel  Blair, 
born  in  Ireland,  June  14,  1712,  studied  for  the 
ministry  at  the  Log  College.  He  was  installed 
pastor  of  a  congregation  at  Fagg's  Manor,  Pa., 
in  1740,  where  he  established  a  school  which  pro- 
duced such  men  as  Samuel  Davies,  John 
Rodgers,  Alexander  Cumming,  James  Finley, 
Robert  Smith  and  Hugh  Henry.  He  died  in 
July  5,  1751. 

Francis  Alison,  born  in  Ireland  in  1705  and 
educated  at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  came  to 
America  in  1734  or  1735.  On  the  recommenda- 
tion of  Benjamin  Franklin  he  was  employed  by 
John  Dickinson  of  Delaware  as  tutor  for  his 
son,  with  permission  to  take  other  pupils.  He  is 
said  to  have  had  an  academy  at  Thunder  Hill, 
Md.  He  was  ordained  pastor  of  New  London, 
Chester  County,  Pa.,  by  New  Castle  Presbytery 
in  1737,  and  in  1743  he  started  a  school  there, 
which  the  Synod  took  under  its  patronage.  In 
1749  he  was  invited  to   Philadelphia  to  take 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     419 

charge  of  a  school  there,  which  had  been  founded 
through  subscriptions  obtained  by  Benjamin 
Franklin.  This  institution  was  the  germ  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  Among  his  pupils 
were  Charles  Thomson,  Secretary  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  and  three  signers  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  Thomas  McKean, 
George  Read  and  James  Smith. 

Samuel  Finley,  born  in  County  Armagh,  Ire- 
land, in  1715,  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  September 
28,  1734.  He  completed  his  studies  at  the  Log 
College.  In  1741  he  was  appointed  to  the  care 
of  several  congregations,  one  of  which  was  at 
Nottingham,  Md.,  where  he  established  a  school 
that  became  famous.  Among  his  pupils  were 
Governor  Martin  of  North  Carolina,  Ebenezer 
Hazard  of  Philadelphia,  Benjamin  Rush  and 
Judge  Jacob  Rush,  Dr.  McWhorter  of  Newark, 
Dr.  Tennent  of  Abingdon  and  the  famous  James 
Waddel,  the  blind  preacher  of  Virginia.  John 
H.  Finley,  Commissioner  of  Education  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  is  a  descendant  of  the  Rev. 
James  Finley,  brother  of  Samuel  Finley. 

When  the  movement  known  as  Methodism 
stirred  the  Church,  chiefly  through  the  preaching 
of  George  Whitefield,  the  controversies  engen- 
dered by  practices  attending  this  movement  in- 
cidentally put  new  emphasis  upon  education  as 
a  qualification  for  the  ministry.    At  the  meeting 


420  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  1738  the  follow- 
ing proposal  from  the  Presbytery  of  Lewes  was 
adopted  by  a  large  majority: 

"That  every  student  who  has  not  studied 
with  approbation,  passing  the  usual  course 
in  some  of  the  New  England  or  European 
Colleges,  approved  by  public  authority, 
shall,  before  he  be  encouraged  by  any  Pres- 
bytery for  the  sacred  work  of  the  ministry, 
apply  himself  to  this  Synod,  and  that  they 
appoint  a  committee  of  their  members 
yearly,  whom  they  know  to  be  well  skilled  in 
the  several  branches  of  philosophy  and  di- 
vinity, and  the  languages,  to  examine  such 
students  in  this  place,  and  finding  them  well 
accomplished  in  those  several  parts  of  learn- 
ing shall  allow  them  a  public  testimonial 
from  the  Synod,  which  till  better  provision 
be  made,  will  in  some  measure  answer  the 
design  of  taking  a  degree  in  the  College.' ' 

In  1739  the  order  was  revised  so  as  to  provide 
that  the  candidate  for  the  ministry  "shall  be  ex- 
amined by  the  whole  Synod,  or  its  commission  as 
to  those  preparatory  studies,  which  we  generally 
pass  through  at  the  College,  and  if  they  find  him 
qualified,  they  shall  give  him  a  certificate,  which 
shall  be  received  by  our  respective  Presbyteries 
as  equivalent  to  a  diploma  or  certificate  from  the 
College."  This  action  of  the  Synod  was  objected 
to  by  the  Tennents  and  other  adherents  of  Log 
College,  as  it  seemed  to  ignore  that  institution 
and  to  erect  a  Synodical  College.    Trouble  soon 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     421 

broke  out.  The  New  Brunswick  Presbytery  dis- 
regarded the  Synod's  rule  and  licensed  John 
Rowland,  a  Log  College  graduate.  The  Synod 
declared  this  proceeding  disorderly,  admonished 
the  Presbytery  and  ruled  that  Rowland  was  not 
to  be  admitted  as  a  preacher  until  he  submitted 
to  the  Synodical  examination.  The  Synod  at  the 
same  time  appointed  its  commission  to  meet  at 
Philadelphia  and  "prosecute  the  design  of  erect- 
ing a  school  or  seminary  of  learning."  Ebenezer 
Pemberton,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  John  Cross  and 
James  Anderson  were  nominated,  two  of  whom 
were  to  go  to  Europe  to  solicit  aid.  This  design 
was  not  carried  out  at  the  time,  but  it  traced  the 
lines  on  which  eventually  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  was  planned. 

Underlying  the  dispute  about  ministerial  quali- 
fications were  differences  as  to  church  standards 
and  discipline,  stirred  up  by  the  Methodist 
movement  and  particularly  by  the  preaching  of 
George  Whitefleld.  President  Ashbel  Green,  in 
a  historical  sketch  published  in  1822,  traced  the 
origin  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  to  the  rup- 
ture of  1741,  by  which  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
was  divided  and  the  Synod  of  New  York  was  or- 
ganized as  a  rival  body.    President  Green  says : 

"Both  Synods,  from  the  time  of  their  sep- 
aration, made  strenuous  exertions  to  educate 
youth  for  the  Gospel  ministry ;  not  only  from 


422  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  laudable  desire  of  extending  the  bless- 
ings of  the  Gospel  to  those  who,  in  every  di- 
rection, were  then  destitute  of  them,  but 
also  from  the  less  commendable  motive  of 
strengthening  and  extending  each  its  own 
party.  Thus  circumstanced  and  disposed, 
it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  members  of  the 
Synod  of  New  York  would  endeavor  to  or- 
ganize their  plans  of  education,  in  a  province 
where  their  peculiar  views  were  prevalent 
and  popular.  New  Jersey  was  their  undis- 
puted territory;  and  here  if  anywhere,  they 
might  hope  to  found  an  institution  in  which 
all  their  wishes  might  be  realized.  It  hap- 
pened also  that  in  this  Province  the  ablest 
champions  of  their  cause,  and  the  man  of 
their  Synod  who,  in  all  respects,  was  the  best 
qualified  to  superintend  and  conduct  the 
education  of  youth,  had  his  residence.  This 
was  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  of  Eliza- 
beth Town." 

With  the  probable  view  of  putting  Dickinson 
at  the  head  of  such  an  institution  as  could  grad- 
uate recruits  to  the  learned  profession,  a  charter 
was  obtained  from  the  Province  of  New  Jersey, 
the  official  attestation  under  the  Great  Seal  being 
made  by  Acting  Governor  John  Hamilton,  of 
His  Majesty's  Council,  October  22,  1746.  This 
charter  was  not  recorded  but  its  substance  is 
given  in  an  advertisement  which  appeared  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  August  13,  1747,  con- 
cluding with  the  announcement  that  the 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     423 

"trustees  have  chosen  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jona- 
than Dickinson  president,  whose  superior 
Abilities  are  well  known;  and  Mr.  Caleb 
Smith,  tutor  of  the  said  college;  and  that 
the  college  is  now  actually  opened,  to  be  kept 
at  Elizabeth  Town,  till  a  building  can  be 
erected  in  a  more  central  place  of  the  said 
Province  for  the  residence  of  the  Students; 
that  all  who  are  qualified  for  it,  may  be  im- 
mediately admitted  to  an  academick  educa- 
tion, and  to  such  class  and  station  in  the 
college,  as  they  are  found  upon  examination 
to  deserve ;  and  that  the  charge  of  the  college 
to  each  student,  will  be  Four  Pound  a  year 
New  Jersey  money,  at  Eight  Shillings  per 
ounce,  and  no  more." 

It  appears  that  the  opening  of  the  college  thus 
referred  to  took  place  in  the  fourth  week  of  May, 
preceding  the  announcement.  Hatfield  in  his 
History  of  Elizabeth  states  that  "the  first  term 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  was  opened  at 
Mr.  Dickinson's  house,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
old  Rah  way  road  directly  west  of  Race  Street." 
President  Dickinson's  term  of  administration 
was  brief,  beginning  in  April,  1747,  and  closing 
with  his  death  on  October  7,  1747.  His  educa- 
tional labors  appear  however  to  have  been  much 
more  extensive  than  his  brief  presidency  might 
indicate,  as  he  had  previously  taken  private 
pupils.  It  is  also  certain  that  his  pupils  had 
made  very  considerable  progress,  for  less  than  a 
year  after  his  decease  six  persons  received  their 


424  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Bachelor's  degree.  In  addition  to  his  activities  as 
minister  and  teacher  Dickinson  was  also  a  prac- 
tising physician,  in  which  profession  he  had  con- 
siderable reputation. 

William  Tennent  died  May  6,  1746.  Log 
College  graduates  had  already  joined  forces  with 
the  men  from  New  York  and  northern  New 
Jersey  in  the  formation  at  Elizabethtown,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1745,  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey.  This 
union  of  forces  resulted  in  the  application  for  a 
charter  for  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  Although 
there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  legal  succession 
to  the  Log  College  there  is  a  strong  tradition 
of  institutional  filiation.  The  two  institutions 
are  directly  connected  through  devotion  to  the 
same  ideals  and  attachment  to  the  same  stand- 
ards. Both  belonged  to  what  was  called  the  New 
Side;  both  were  in  sympathy  with  the  spiritual 
revival,  led  by  Whitefleld.  Practical  expression 
of  this  community  of  purpose  was  given  by  the 
action  of  the  trustees  in  associating  with  them- 
selves some  distinguished  graduates  of  the  Log 
College.  The  trustees  named  in  the  original 
charter  were  William  Smith,  Peter  Van  Brugh 
Livingston  and  William  Peartree  Smith,  gentle- 
men, and  Jonathan  Dickinson,  John  Pierson, 
Ebenezer  Pemberton  and  Aaron  Burr,  minis- 
ters. These  seven  or  any  four  of  them  were 
granted  power  to  select  five  more  trustees  and 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     425 

they  chose  Gilbert  Tennent,  William  Tennent, 
Samuel  Blair,  Richard  Treat  and  Samuel  Fin- 
ley,  all  ministers.  Of  those  five  two  were  sons 
of  the  founder  of  the  Log  College  and  all  were 
graduates,  except  Treat  who  lived  at  Abington 
near  the  Log  College. 

What  in  the  beginning  differentiated  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey  from  other  early  schools  was 
not  its  plant  nor  its  equipment  but  its  high  pur- 
pose and  broad  policy.  Its  founders  sought  to 
establish  an  institution  of  higher  learning  not  as 
a  denominational  agency  but  as  an  educational 
foundation  from  which  all  the  learned  professions 
would  benefit.  The  original  charter  provided 
that  no  person  should  be  debarred  "on  account 
of  any  speculative  principles  of  religion,"  and 
this  policy  was  maintained  from  the  first. 

The  original  charter  was  not  recorded  and  has 
disappeared,  although  its  substance  is  known 
from  the  published  announcements  of  the  trus- 
tees. Its  legality  was  open  to  suspicion,  and  the 
arrival  of  Governor  Belcher  in  the  Province  af- 
forded a  happy  opportunity  of  procuring  a  new 
charter.  Jonathan  Belcher,  son  of  a  member  of 
the  Royal  Council  in  Massachusetts,  was  born  in 
1681,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1699. 
His  father  then  sent  him  to  Europe  to  com- 
plete his  education  and  he  remained  abroad  six 
years,  during  which  time  he  became  known  to  the 


426  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Princess  Sophia  and  her  son,  afterward  King 
George  II,  an  acquaintance  which  eventually  led 
to  public  honors.  After  his  return  to  Boston  he 
lived  there  as  a  wealthy  and  public  spirited  mer- 
chant. He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the 
Council  and  in  1722  the  Massachusetts  Legisla- 
ture sent  him  to  England  as  agent  of  the  Prov- 
ince. In  1730  the  King  appointed  him  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire.  He  held 
this  position  for  eleven  years  making  enemies  who 
resorted  even  to  forgery  to  discredit  his  adminis- 
tration. On  being  superseded  he  went  to  Eng- 
land and  vindicated  his  character  and  conduct  so 
effectually  that  he  was  restored  to  royal  favor 
and  promised  the  first  vacant  Governorship  in 
America.  The  vacancy  occurring  in  New  Jer- 
sey, he  was  sent  to  that  Province,  arriving  in  1747 
and  remaining  the  rest  of  his  life.  As  "Captain 
General  and  Governor  in  Chief  of  the  Province 
of  New  Jersey,  and  territories  thereon  depend- 
ing in  America,  and  Vice  Admiral  of  the  same," 
he  lived  in  a  style  and  practised  a  hospitality  be- 
fitting the  dignity  of  his  titles.  He  promptly 
interested  himself  in  the  affairs  of  the  nascent 
College  of  New  Jersey  and  actively  exerted  his 
influence  to  make  it  worthy  of  its  title.  Not  long 
after  his  arrival  he  sent  the  following  letter  to  his 
cousin  William  Belcher  in  England: 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     427 

Sr. — This  is  a  fine  Climate  and  Countrey 
of  Great  plenty  tho'  but  of  Little  profit  to  a 
Governour.  The  inhabitants  are  generally 
rustick  and  without  Education.  I  am  there- 
fore attempting  the  building  up  of  a  College 
in  the  province  for  Instructing  the  youth  in 
the  Principles  of  Religion  in  good  Liter- 
ature and  Manners  and  I  have  a  Reasonable 
View  of  bringing  it  to  bear. 

I  am  Sr 

Your  Friend  and  Very  humble  servant 

J.  Belcher. 
Burlington,  N.  J. 

Sept.  17,  1747. 

Governor  Belcher  granted  a  new  charter, 
which  passed  the  seal  of  the  Province  on  Septem- 
ber 14,  1748.  The  preamble  sets  forth  that  "the 
said  Petitioners  have  also  expressed  their  earnest 
Desire  that  those  of  every  religious  Denomina- 
tion may  have  free  and  equal  Liberty  and  Ad- 
vantages of  Education  in  the  said  College,  any 
different  Sentiments  in  Religion  notwithstand- 
ing." Under  this  charter  the  lay  trustees  were 
made  equal  in  number  to  those  who  were  clergy- 
men and  its  undenominational  character  was 
firmly  established. 

At  the  time  of  the  granting  of  the  second 
charter  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr  was  the  Acting 
President  of  the  College  which  after  President 
Dickinson's  death  had  been  removed  to  Newark. 
The  formal  election  of  Mr.  Burr  to  the  presi- 


428  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

dency  did  not  take  place  until  November  9,  1748, 
at  a  meeting  of  the  trustees  in  Newark.  On  the 
same  day  the  first  commencement  was  celebrated 
with  much  ceremony,  although  the  graduating 
class  numbered  only  six.  A  set  of  laws  for  the 
government  of  the  college,  probably  prepared  by 
President  Burr,  was  adopted  by  the  trustees  at 
this  time.  The  high  standard  of  education  al- 
ready set  up  is  attested  by  the  following  pro- 
visions: "None  may  be  expected  to  be  admitted 
into  College  but  such  as  being  examined  by  the 
President  and  Tutors  shall  be  found  able  to  ren- 
der Virgil  and  Tully's  Orations  into  English; 
and  to  turn  English  into  true  and  grammatical 
Latin;  and  to  be  so  well  acquainted  with  Greek 
as  to  render  any  part  of  the  four  Evangelists  in 
that  language  into  Latin  or  English ;  and  to  give 
the  grammatical  connection  of  the  words." 

During  the  ten  years  of  President  Burr's  ad- 
ministration the  infant  college  surmounted  the 
difficulties  that  confronted  the  struggling  little 
school  in  which  it  had  its  beginning,  and  became 
established  in  its  permanent  home.  Its  early 
years  undoubtedly  owed  much  to  the  hearty  sup- 
port of  Governor  Belcher.  Named  in  the  charter 
as  the  first  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  he 
was  an  active  member,  attending  the  meetings  of 
the  board  and  interesting  himself  in  the  success 
of  the  enterprise.     At  the  meeting  in  Newark, 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     429 

September  27,  1752,  he  made  an  address  in  which 
he  said  that  for  the  present  there  was  no  prospect 
of  aid  from  friends  in  Great  Britain,  but  urged: 
"In  the  meantime  I  think  it  our  duty,  to  exert 
ourselves,  in  all  reasonable  ways  and  measures 
we  can,  for  the  aid  and  assistance  of  our  friends 
nearer  home;  that  we  may  have  wherewith  to 
build  a  house  for  the  accommodation  of  the  stu- 
dents, and  another  for  the  President  and  his 
family.  And  it  seems  therefore  necessary  that, 
without  further  delay,  we  agree  upon  the  place 
where  to  set  those  buildings." 

In  1751  the  trustees  had  voted  in  favor  of 
New  Brunswick  upon  the  strength  of  expecta- 
tions that  were  not  realized.  The  trustees  now 
turned  to  Princeton  and  in  response  to  Governor 
Belcher's  appeal  it  was  voted,  "That  the  College 
be  fixed  at  Princeton  upon  Condition  that  the  In- 
habitants of  sd.  Place  secure  to  the  Trustees  that 
two  Hundred  Acres  of  Woodland,  and  that  ten 
Acres  of  clear'd  land;  which  Mr.  Sergeant 
view'd;  and  also  one  thousand  Pounds  proc. 
Money."  The  allusion  is  to  Jonathan  Sergeant, 
the  treasurer  of  the  board,  to  whom  the  land 
had  been  shown  that  the  Princeton  people  pro- 
posed to  give  to  the  college.  The  conditions 
were  complied  with  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
board,  and  the  business  of  collecting  funds  was 
taken  in  hand.     At  a  meeting  of  the  board  in 


430  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Burlington,  May  23,  1753,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed "to  draw  up  an  address  in  the  name  of 
the  trustees,  to  his  Excellency  Governor  Belcher, 
humbly  to  desire  that  he  would  use  his  influence 
in  Europe,  recommending  the  affair  of  the  Col- 
lege by  the  gentlemen  appointed  to  take  a  voyage 
there  to  solicit  benefactions  for  it."  The  two 
gentlemen  referred  to  were  the  Rev.  Gilbert 
Tennent  of  Philadelphia  and  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Davies,  then  in  Hanover  County,  Va.  They 
went  on  their  mission  with  strong  credentials 
and  recommendations  from  Governor  Belcher 
and  were  able  to  collect  sufficient  funds  to 
enable  the  trustees  to  proceed  with  the  erection  of 
the  main  building.  Ground  was  broken  on  July 
29, 1754.  Before  the  building  was  occupied  Gov- 
ernor Belcher  presented  the  college  with  his  li- 
brary, comprising  474  volumes,  many  of  them 
highly  valuable.  His  dead  of  gift,  after  a  cata- 
logue of  the  books,  goes  on  to  say  that  they  are 
given  "together  with  my  own  picture  at  full 
length,  in  a  gilt  frame,  now  standing  in  my  blue 
chamber;  also  one  pair  of  globes,  and  ten  pic- 
tures in  black  frames,  over  the  mantelpiece  in 
my  library  room,  being  the  heads  of  the  Kings 
and  Queens  of  England;  and  also  my  large 
carved  gilded  coat  of  arms."  The  trustees  voted 
an  address  of  thanks,  concluding  with  this 
proposal : 


SCOTCH-iftlSH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     431 

"As  the  college  of  New  Jersey  views  you 
in  the  light  of  its  founder,  patron  and  bene- 
factor, and  the  impartial  world  will  esteem 
it  a  respect  deservedly  due  to  the  name  of 
Belcher;  permit  us  to  dignify  the  edifice  now 
erecting  at  Princeton,  with  that  endeared 
appellation,  and  when  your  Excellency  is 
translated  to  a  house  not  made  with  hands 
eternal  in  the  heavens,  let  Belcher  Hall 
proclaim  your  beneficent  acts,  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  Christianity,  and  the  emolu- 
ment of  the  arts  and  sciences,  to  the  latest 
ages." 

To  this  address  Governor  Belcher  made  a  re- 
ply in  which  he  said  that  it  had  seemed  to  him 
''that  a  seminary  for  religion  and  learning  should 
be  promoted  in  this  Province;  for  the  better  en- 
lightening of  the  minds  and  polishing  the  man- 
ners, of  this  and  the  neighboring  colonies." 
Hence  "this  important  affair,  I  have  been,  during 
my  administration,  honestly  and  heartily  prose- 
cuting, in  all  such  laudable  ways  and  measures 
as  I  have  judged  most  likely  to  effect  what  we 
all  aim  at."    In  conclusion  he  said: 

"I  take  a  particular  grateful  notice,  of  the 
respect  and  honour  you  are  desirous  of  do- 
ing me  and  my  family,  in  calling  the  edifice 
lately  erected  in  Princeton  by  the  name  of 
Belcher  Hall;  but  you  will  be  so  good  as  to 
excuse  me,  while  I  absolutely  decline  such 
an  honour,  for  I  have  always  been  very  fond 
of  the  motto  of  a  late  grand  personage, 


432  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Prodesse  quam  conspici.  But  I  must  not 
leave  this  without  asking  the  favor  of  your 
naming  the  present  building  Nassau  Hall; 
and  this  I  hope  you  will  take  as  a  further 
instance  of  my  real  regard  to  the  future  wel- 
fare and  interest  of  the  college,  as  it  will  ex- 
press the  honor  we  retain,  in  this  remote  part 
of  the  globe,  to  the  immortal  memory  of  the 
glorious  King  William  the  third,  who  was 
a  branch  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Nassau." 

In  accordance  with  this  recommendation 
the  trustees,  at  their  meeting  in  Newark,  Sep- 
tember 29,  1756,  voted  "that  the  said  edifice  be 
in  all  time  to  come,  called  and  known  by  the 
name  of  Nassau  Hall."  Thus  it  was  that  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  received  the  name  by 
which  it  was  best  known.  In  fact  its  corporate 
title  was  rarely  used. 

The  building  was  ready  for  occupancy  in  the 
fall  of  1756  and  in  that  year  the  students,  then 
about  seventy  in  number,  moved  from  Newark 
into  their  new  quarters.  Governor  Belcher  did 
not  live  to  witness  the  prosperity  of  Nassau  Hall 
as  he  died  at  Elizabeth,  August  31,  1757,  aged 
seventy-six.  His  body  was  taken  to  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  for  burial.  He  was  a  fine  example  of  the 
educated  Puritan  gentleman,  combining  dignity 
of  manners,  refinement  of  taste  and  stately  hos- 
pitality with  sincere  piety.  He  was  Governor  of 
Massachusetts    when    Whitefield    visited    that 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     433 

Province  in  1740,  and  he  showed  the  eloquent 
preacher  marked  respect.  He  not  only  attended 
Whitefield's  meetings  in  Boston  but  followed  him 
as  far  as  Worcester,  and  urged  him  to  continue 
his  faithful  instructions  sparing  neither  ministers 
nor  rulers.  Belcher's  picture  in  the  faculty  room 
of  Princeton  University  is  a  half  length,  showing 
a  gentleman  in  all  the  elegance  of  attire  of  his 
period,  full  bottomed  wig,  lace  ruffles  and  a 
red  vest.  The  handsome  face  is  rather  long,  with 
firmly  moulded,  strong  features,  expressive  of 
energy  and  resolution.  The  present  picture  is 
not  the  one  he  gave  to  the  college  but  is  a  copy 
of  a  portrait.  It  is  now  one  among  a  number  of 
portraits  of  Princeton  worthies  and  does  not  in- 
dicate the  distinction  given  to  him  in  the  hall  as 
arranged  in  1761,  the  year  in  which  the  royal 
portrait  arrived.  The  hall  then  had  a  gallery  at 
one  end,  and  at  the  other  end  was  a  stage  for  use 
in  the  public  exhibitions  of  the  students.  On  one 
side  was  the  full  length  portrait  of  George  II, 
and  on  the  other  side  was  a  like  portrait  of  Gov- 
ernor Belcher,  with  his  family  arms  above  it, 
carved  and  gilded.  These  fittings  and  adorn- 
ments were  ravaged  by  the  alternate  occupancy 
of  the  contending  armies  during  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  the  library  presented  by  Governor 
Belcher  being  also  a  sufferer.  What  survived 
was  consumed  in  a  fire,  on  March  6,  1802,  which 


434  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

destroyed  all  of  Nassau  Hall  except  the  bare 
walls. 

The  chief  source  of  the  funds  for  the 
erection  of  Nassau  Hall  was  the  collection  made 
in  Great  Britain  by  Tennent  and  Davies,  who 
went  out  in  1753  and  returned  in  the  following 
year.  The  Presbyterians  both  in  England  and 
Scotland  made  contributions  liberal  for  the  times ; 
and  Ulster  attested  its  own  direct  interest  by 
making  special  effort  to  raise  money  for  the 
New  Jersey  college.  In  view  of  the  necessitous 
condition  of  the  Ulster  people  and  clergy  at  that 
period  the  action  taken  is  a  marked  evidence  of 
the  close  tie  between  Ulster  and  American  Pres- 
byterianism.  As  the  official  record  of  this  event 
does  not  appear  in  the  church  histories,  it  has 
been  transcribed  from  the  Minutes  of  the  General 
Synod  of  Ulster,  in  session  at  Antrim,  Thurs- 
day, June  27,  1754,  as  follows: 

"A  Petition  was  presented  to  this  Synod 
by  the  Rev'd  Mr.  Gilb*  Tennent  in  the  name 
of  the  Synod  of  N.  York,  &  the  Trustees  of 
the  infant  Colledge  of  N.  Jersey,  &  many  of 
the  Inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  Prov- 
inces representing  that  as  they  had  laid  a 
foundation  for  a  Colledge  &  Seminary  of 
learning,  wc  they  apprehend  may  be  of  im- 
portant service  to  the  Interests  of  Religion 
&  Learning :  &  as  they  are  not  able  to  carry 
this  design  to  such  perfection  as  is  necessary 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     435 

to  answer  the  exigency s  of  Church  &  State 
in  these  parts  of  His  Majesties  Dominions: 
they  therefore  humbly  supplicate  for  such 
assistance  as  this  Synod  shall  think  proper, 
particularly  one  Sab.  days  Collection  in  the 
several  Congregations  subject  to  this  Synod 
w*  previous  intimation  for  sd.  Collection. 
The  Synod  Judging  the  above  sd  Seminary 
to  be  of  great  importance  to  the  promotion 
of  the  Interests  of  Religion  &  Learning  in 
several  Provinces  of  N.  America,  unani- 
mously granted  the  Petition :  &  ordered  that 
public  Collections  be  made  in  all  the  Con- 
gregations under  their  care,  some  time  be- 
fore the  first  of  Novr.  next,  in  ye  meantime 
recommending  it  to  all  the  Members  of  this 
Synod,  to  excite  by  proper  exhortations 
their  several  societies  to  this  important 
Charity." 

This  is  an  exceptionally  long  minute  to  appear 
upon  the  Synod's  records.  In  addition  to  its  earn- 
est recommendation  the  Synod  appointed  a  col- 
lector in  each  Presbytery,  to  receive  and  transmit 
the  contributions.  The  circumstances  of  the 
people  were  then  such  that  it  was  very  difficult 
to  get  money  for  any  purpose,  but  the  Synod  was 
persistent  in  its  efforts.  At  the  meeting  of  the 
General  Synod,  June  24,  1755,  the  following 
minute  was  entered  upon  the  records: 

"There  has  been  very  little  done  by  the 
Pbys  in  the  affair  of  the  Charity  to  the  Col- 
lege in  N.  Jersey,  as  appointed  at  last 
Synod.     This  Synod  renews  the  recommo- 


436  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

dation,  &  enjoins  the  several  Minrs  to 
represent  it,  in  the  warmest  manner  to  their 
Congregations:  &  to  pay  their  Collections 
to  the  Gentlemen  formerlie  appointed,  be- 
fore the  first  of  Nov1",  next." 

At  the  meeting  in  1756  the  matter  is  again 
mentioned  with  the  remark  that  "as  some  Bn. 
here  made  contributions  for  that  purpose  the 
Synod  is  well  pleased  with  them."  There  is  no 
record  of  the  exact  amount  obtained  through 
these  collections,  but  the  entire  amount  raised  in 
Ireland  was  about  500  pounds ;  in  Scotland,  over 
1,000  pounds;  in  England,  about  1,700  pounds. 
It  is  remarkable  that  with  such  pressing  needs 
in  the  home  field  the  Ulster  Synod  should  have 
taken  such  an  active  interest  in  a  far  distant 
enterprise.  This  may  be  attributed  to  a  con- 
sciousness that  the  Church  in  America  was  a 
transplantation  of  the  Church  of  Ulster.  Prince- 
ton is  undoubtedly  a  Scotch-Irish  educational 
foundation  made  upon  their  cherished  principle 
that  what  makes  for  learning  and  scholarship 
makes  for  Presbyterianism. 

Princeton  was  the  fourth  college  to  be  estab- 
lished in  the  colonies,  Harvard  in  1638  being  the 
first,  William  and  Mary  in  Virginia  coming  sec- 
ond in  1691,  Yale  third  in  1701  and  then  Prince- 
ton in  1746.  It  was  very  advantageously  situated 
and  from  the  first  drew  attendance  from  all  the 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     437 

region  south  of  New  England.  A  record  of  the 
commencement  exercises  of  September,  1764,  in 
President  Finley's  time,  has  been  preserved 
from  which  it  appears  that  they  were  mainly  in 
Latin  with  the  exception  of  "an  English  foren- 
sick  Dispute,"  concerning  which  President  Fin- 
ley  noted  that  it  had  been  introduced  because  "it 
entertains  the  English  part  of  the  Audience; 
tends  to  the  cultivation  of  our  native  Language, 
and  has  been  agreeable  on  former  occasions; 
which  I  presume  are  sufficient  apologies  for  con- 
tinuing the  custom."  President  Finley  was  a 
Scotch-Irishman,  a  native  of  County  Armagh, 
Ulster.  The  tenor  of  his  note  on  the  admission 
of  an  English  feature  into  the  exercises  shows 
that  he  instinctively  assumed  that  Latin  was  the 
proper  language  of  scholarship. 

Mortality  was  very  marked  among  the  early 
Presidents  of  Princeton,  Dickinson,  the  first 
President,  did  not  live  to  see  the  first  commence- 
ment. His  successor,  Burr,  held  the  office  for 
ten  years,  and  it  was  during  his  administration 
that  the  college  was  securely  established  in 
Princeton.  In  the  next  nine  years  Jonathan 
Edwards,  Samuel  Davies  and  Samuel  Finley 
died,  each  while  President  of  the  University. 
The  vacancy  created  by  Finley's  death  July  17, 
1766,  was  not  filled  for  two  years,  during  which 
time  the  Rev.  William  Tennent,  Jr.,  acted  as 


438  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

President.  He  was  put  in  charge  of  that  office 
by  the  vote  of  the  trustees  at  their  meeting  June 
25,  1766,  at  which  time  President  Finley  was 
disabled  from  performing  its  duties  by  the  ill- 
ness of  which  he  soon  afterward  died.  Mr. 
Tennent,  the  second  son  of  the  founder  of  the 
Log  College,  was  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  at  Freehold,  about  twenty-three  miles 
from  Princeton,  so  he  could  extend  his  activities 
to  cover  both  places.  A  charter  member  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  he  had  always  taken  an  active 
interest  in  the  management  of  the  college. 

In  1768  John  Witherspoon,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of 
Paisley,  Scotland,  yielded  to  repeated  solicita- 
tions and  came  to  America  to  become  the  sixth 
President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  With- 
erspoon's  administration  is  of  special  importance 
as  it  extended  from  1768  to  1794,  covering  the 
whole  period  of  the  Revolutionary  War  and  the 
formation  of  the  national  Government  through 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  In  those  events  through  advantage  of 
position  and  through  Witherspoon's  personal 
ability  and  influence  Princeton  played  a  great 
part.  Witherspoon  was  the  son  of  a  minister 
whose  parish  was  about  eighteen  miles  from 
Edinburgh.  He  was  educated  at  the  University 
of  Edinburgh  where  he  distinguished  himself  for 
his  scholarship.    From  Beith  where  he  was  first 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     439 

settled  as  a  pastor  he  was  called  to  the  large  and 
flourishing  town  of  Paisley,  where  his  labors  es- 
tablished for  him  such  a  reputation  that  he 
received  numerous  calls,  among  them  one  to 
Dublin,  Ireland,  and  one  to  Rotterdam,  Holland. 
When  called  by  the  trustees  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  to  its  presidency,  he  at  first  declined 
owing  to  his  wife's  extreme  aversion  to  leaving 
Scotland;  but  when  the  call  was  reiterated  he 
accepted,  moved  by  the  conviction  that  it  was 
an  opportunity  of  service  that  ought  not  to  be 
rejected.  Witherspoon  threw  himself  into  the 
cause  of  American  learning  and  American  liberty 
with  his  whole  heart  and  will.  Not  only  did  his 
administration  enlarge  the  scholarship  and  aug- 
ment the  instruction  of  Nassau  Hall  but  the 
active  part  which  Witherspoon  soon  took  in  poli- 
tics gave  a  distinction  to  Princeton  that  had  im- 
portant results.  His  public  activities  hurt  as 
well  as  helped,  for  some  youth  from  Tory  fami- 
lies passed  by  Princeton  to  go  to  Yale,  but  on 
the  other  hand  there  were  New  England  students 
who  passed  by  Harvard  and  Yale  to  go  to 
Princeton.  The  result  was  that  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  became  more  of  a  national  institu- 
tion than  any  other  American  college  during  the 
colonial  period,  and  it  became  a  school  of  states- 
manship for  the  forming  of  the  nation.  Gaillard 
Hunt,  in  his  Life  of  James  Madison,  has  made 


440  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

an  instructive  analysis  of  Princeton  influence  in 
the  Revolutionary  period.  In  discussing  the  rea- 
sons why  James  Madison  of  Virginia  went  to 
Princeton  rather  than  William  and  Mary  Col- 
lege in  his  own  State,  Mr.  Hunt  says: 

"He  had  the  advantage  of  broader  sur- 
roundings than  would  have  been  possible  if 
he  had  completed  his  education  elsewhere  in 
America ;  for  William  and  Mary  was  a  local 
college,  and  so  were  Harvard  and  Yale,  with 
few  students  coming  from  any  other  colony 
than  the  one  in  which  each  was  situated.  At 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  on  the  other 
hand,  every  colony  was  represented  among 
the  students;  and  while  New  Jersey  had  a 
few  more  than  any  other  one  colony,  she  had 
not  a  fourth  part  of  all  the  students,  the 
actual  number  being,  when  Madison  en- 
tered, only  nineteen  Jerseymen  out  of 
eighty-four  students.  Of  the  twelve  stu- 
dents who  graduated  with  Madison  only 
one,  Charles  McKnight,  afterward  dis- 
tinguished in  the  medical  department  of 
the  army  of  the  Revolution,  came  from 
New  Jersey.  Chief  among  Madison's  com- 
panions in  his  own  class  were  Gunning 
Bedford  of  Delaware,  Hugh  Henry  Brack- 
enridge  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Philip  Fre- 
neau  of  New  York." 

To  this  unique  position  of  Princeton  must  be 

attributed  its  preponderating  influence  in  the 

formation  period  of  American  history.    Before 

Witherspoon's  time  Nassau  Hall  did  its  part  in 

turning   out   men   qualified   for   political   emi- 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     441 

nence.  Richard  Stockton,  a  member  of  the  first 
graduating  class,  was  a  member  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  of  1776-1777  and  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Prior  to  the  ac- 
cession of  Wither  spoon  in  1768  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  graduated  301  students  of  whom 
the  majority  entered  the  ministry,  but  there  were 
many  who  turned  to  law  and  politics  and  became 
eminent  in  public  life.  Eighteen  graduates  of 
this  period  became  members  of  the  Continental 
Congress.  Men  of  such  national  reputation  as 
Samuel  Livermore  of  New  Hampshire,  Joseph 
Shippen,  Jr.,  of  Pennsylvania,  Alexander  Mar- 
tin of  North  Carolina,  Joseph  Reed  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, Benjamin  Rush  of  Pennsylvania,  William 
Paterson  of  New  Jersey,  Oliver  Ellsworth 
of  Connecticut  and  Luther  Martin  of  Mary- 
land were  graduated  during  this  period.  With 
the  accession  of  Witherspoon  the  trend  of  the 
times  began  to  shift  the  interest  of  the  students 
strongly  to  public  affairs.  In  the  twenty-six 
years  of  his  incumbency  469  young  men  were 
graduated  of  whom  only  114,  or  less  than  a 
quarter,  became  clergymen.  Of  the  230  grad- 
uates from  1766  to  1776,  twelve  became  mem- 
bers of  the  Continental  Congress,  twenty-four 
became  members  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  three  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  one 
Secretary   of    State,    one    Postmaster- General, 


f 


442  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

three  Attorney- Generals,  one  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States  and  one  President. 

The  most  critical  period  of  our  history  was  the 
formation  of  the  national  Government,  the  fruit 
of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1787.  Of  its 
fifty-five  members  thirty-two  were  of  academic 
training,  including  one  each  from  London,  Ox- 
ford, Glasgow,  Edinburgh  and  Aberdeen,  five 
from  William  and  Mary,  one  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  two  from  Columbia, 
three  from  Harvard,  four  from  Yale  and  nine 
from  Princeton.  Moreover  those  nine  included 
the  leaders  of  the  convention.  They  were  as 
follows,  the  graduation  class  to  which  each  be- 
longed being  bracketed  after  the  name:  Alex- 
ander Martin  (1756)  of  North  Carolina, 
William  Paterson  (1763)  of  New  Jersey,  Oliver 
Ellsworth  (1766)  of  Connecticut,  Luther 
Martin  (1766)  of  Maryland,  William  Churchill 
Houston  (1768)  of  New  Jersey,  Gunning  Bed- 
ford, Jr.,  (1771)  of  Delaware,  James  Madison 
(1771)  of  Virginia,  William  Richardson  Davie 
(1776)  of  North  Carolina,  and  Jonathan 
Dayton  (1776)  of  New  Jersey.  With  these 
should  be  named  Edmund  Randolph  of  Virginia 
who  studied  at  Princeton  although  he  did  not 
graduate. 

James  Madison  was  the  wheelhorse  of  the 
federal  movement.    Although  the  Virginia  plan 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     443 

in  which  representation  was  based  on  population 
was  submitted  by  Randolph,  it  was  inspired  by 
Madison.  The  Jersey  plan,  based  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  State  equality,  was  devised  by  Paterson. 
The  great  controversies  of  the  convention  were 
over  the  issue  raised  by  these  two  plans.  Ells- 
worth and  Davie  took  a  leading  part  in  arrang- 
ing the  compromise  that  finally  ended  the  dis- 
pute, the  small  States  being  accorded  equal  rep- 
resentation in  the  Senate,  while  in  the  House 
representation  was  based  upon  population. 
Madison  was  active  and  influential  at  every 
stage  of  the  proceedings,  and  he  assisted  in  put- 
ting the  final  touches  to  the  Constitution  as  he 
was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  style.  To  his 
Princeton  training  may  be  attributed  the  fact 
that  such  a  complete  record  of  the  work  of  the 
convention  has  been  preserved.  Gaillard  Hunt's 
Life  of  James  Madison  is  the  most  exact  and 
authoritative  biography.  He  remarks  that  Madi- 
son went  to  the  convention  with  carefully  pre- 
pared notes  on  Government.  "They  were  the 
results  of  profound  study  begun  twenty  years 
before  at  Princeton  and  continued  unremit- 
tingly." We  learn  from  Madison  himself  that 
he  derived  from  his  Princeton  experience  the 
motive  of  this  exceptional  industry.  In  the  in- 
troduction of  his  journal  of  convention  proceed- 


444  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ings,  which  he  left  for  publication  after  his  death, 
he  says: 

"The  curiosity  I  had  felt  during  my  re- 
searches into  the  history  of  the  most  distin- 
guished confederacies,  particularly  those  of 
antiquity,  and  the  deficiency  I  found  in  the 
means  of  satisfying  it,  more  especially  in 
what  related  to  the  process,  the  principles, 
the  reasons  and  the  anticipations,  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  formation  of  them,  determined 
me  to  preserve,  as  far  as  I  could,  an  exact 
account  of  what  might  pass  in  the  Con- 
vention. .  .  . 

"In  pursuance  of  the  work  I  had  as- 
sumed, I  chose  a  seat  in  front  of  the 
presiding  member,  with  the  other  members 
on  my  right  and  left  hands.  In  this  favor- 
able position  for  hearing  all  that  passed,  I 
noted  in  terms  legible  and  in  abbreviations 
and  marks  intelligible  to  myself,  what  was 
read  from  the  chair  or  spoken  by  the 
members ;  and  losing  not  a  moment  unneces- 
sarily between  adjournment  and  reassem- 
bling of  the  Convention,  I  was  enabled  to 
write  out  my  daily  notes  during  the  session, 
or  within  a  few  finishing  days  after  its 
close." 

That  is  to  say  he  took  notes  of  convention 
proceedings  in  the  same  way  and  by  the  same 
method  that  he  had  become  accustomed  to  at 
Princeton  in  attending  lectures  in  his  course  of 
study. 


SCOTCH-IRISH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS     445 

In  addition  to  the  Princeton  graduates  who 
were  members  of  the  constitutional  convention 
of  the  United  States  there  were  at  least  thirty- 
six  Princeton  graduates  who  took  part  in  State 
constitutional  conventions  including  those  of 
New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Con- 
necticut, New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia  and  Kentucky.  Such  a  wide  distribu- 
tion is  signal  evidence  of  the  national  scope  of 
Princeton  influence. 

Besides  this  close  association  of  Princeton 
with  the  organization  of  American  independence 
the  accidents  of  the  Revolutionary  War  invested 
Princeton  with  distinctive  historical  interest. 
Nassau  Hall  was  pillaged  and  wrecked  during 
the  war,  and  since  then  it  has  been  burned  out 
twice,  but  it  was  so  well  built  that  the  original 
walls  form  part  of  the  present  structure,  a 
tablet  upon  which  gives  the  following  record : 

"This  building  erected  in  1756  by  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  and  named  Nassau 
Hall  in  honor  of  King  William  III,  was 
seized  by  British  forces  for  military  pur- 
poses in  1776  and  retaken  by  the  American 
army  January,  3,  1777.  Here  met  from 
June  30,  1783,  until  November  4,  1783,  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  here  August  26, 
1783,  General  Washington  received  the 
grateful  acknowledgments  of  the  Congress 
for  his  services  in  establishing  the  freedom 


446  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

and  independence  of  the  United  States  of 
America." 

Elias  Boudinot  of  New  Jersey,  a  Princeton 
trustee,  was  President  of  Congress  in  1783.  As 
a  special  compliment  to  the  college  Congress 
adjourned  to  attend  the  commencement  exer- 
cises of  that  year,  and  General  Washington  was 
present.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees on  the  same  day  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  request  General  Washington: 

"to  sit  for  his  picture  to  be  taken  by  Mr. 
Charles  Wilson  Peale  of  Philadelphia. — 
And,  ordered  that  his  portrait  when  finished 
be  placed  in  the  hall  of  the  college  in  the 
room  of  the  picture  of  the  late  King  of 
Great  Britain,  which  was  torn  away  by  a 
ball  from  the  American  artillery  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Princeton." 

This  portrait  now  hangs  in  Nassau  Hall  in 
the  same  frame  that  had  formerly  contained  the 
picture  of  George  II.  The  college  familiarly 
known  as  Nassau  Hall  in  its  earlier  days  was 
later  known  generally  by  its  place  name  of 
Princeton,  its  legal  title  as  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  being  used  only  on  formal  occasions.  In 
October,  1896,  on  the  150th  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  college  the  present  title  of 
Princeton  University  was  assumed. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

The  Spread  of  Popular  Education 

Everywhere  along  the  track  of  Scotch-Irish 
emigration  into  the  South  and  West  institutions 
of  learning  sprang  up  in  the  making  of  which 
the  influence  of  Princeton  was  marked  since  the 
younger  institutions  naturally  drew  upon  it  for 
supplies  of  scholarship.  In  this  way  Princeton 
has  had  a  numerous  progeny.  The  first  of  the 
brood  was  Hampden  Sidney  College,  Virginia. 
It  was  founded  in  1774,  with  the  active  support 
and  approval  of  Hanover  Presbytery  and  the 
site  was  fixed  in  Prince  Edward  County  at  a 
point  convenient  for  the  Scotch-Irish  settlements 
in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  The  Rev. 
Samuel  Stanhope  Smith  of  the  class  of  1769, 
tutor  at  Princeton  1770-1773,  was  the  first  Presi- 
dent of  Hampden  Sidney.  The  college  was 
opened  during  the  Revolutionary  year,  1776,  and 
soon  a  military  company  was  organized  among 
the  students,  John  Blair  Smith,  Jr.,  being  cap- 
tain. He  was  a  Princeton  graduate  of  the  class 
of  1773,  and  was  a  young  brother  of  President 
Smith.    The  members  of  this  military  company 

447 


448  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

wore  purple  hunting  shirts  as  a  uniform.  A 
number  of  them  became  officers  in  the  army 
and  others  enlisted  as  common  soldiers.  Samuel 
Stanhope  Smith  left  Hampden  Sidney  to  be- 
come Professor  of  Philosophy  at  Princeton  in 
1779.  In  1795  he  became  President  of  that  col- 
lege, continuing  in  that  office  until  1812,  when 
he  resigned.  His  brother  succeeded  him  in  the 
presidency  of  Hampden  Sidney,  occupying  that 
position  from  1779  to  1789.  The  influence  of 
Hampden  Sidney  throughout  the  South  was 
strongly  marked.  In  the  period  before  the  Civil 
War  more  teachers  were  graduated  from  it  than 
from  any  other  institution  in  the  South. 

The  selection  of  a  site  for  Hampden  Sidney 
convenient  to  the  Scotch-Irish  settlements  in 
North  Carolina  established  that  institution  in 
the  southeastern  portion  of  the  State.  The  first 
academy  in  the  region  known  as  the  Valley  was 
founded  in  1776  in  a  log  house  at  Timber  Ridge, 
Rockbridge  County,  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Hanover  Presbytery.  The  school  was  named 
Liberty  Hall,  and  it  was  conducted  by  the  Rev. 
William  Graham,  a  Princeton  graduate  of  the 
class  of  1773.  This  institution,  which  was  char- 
tered in  1772,  was  endowed  by  General  Wash- 
ington in  1796.  In  that  year  the  Legislature  of 
Virginia,  as  a  mark  of  its  appreciation  of 
Washington's  public  services,  voted  to  him  one 


THE  SPREAD  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION  449 

hundred  shares  of  stock  in  the  James  River  im- 
provement then  in  progress.  Unwilling  to  ac- 
cept the  present  for  his  own  use,  Washington 
conveyed  it  to  Liberty  Hall.  To  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  his  kindness  the  trustees  by  unani- 
mous vote  changed  the  name  to  Washington 
Academy;  from  it  the  present  Washington  and 
Lee  University  has  developed. 

In  1768  Joseph  Alexander,  a  Princeton 
graduate  of  the  class  of  1760,  was  ordained 
pastor  of  the  Sugar  Creek  Congregation,  a  few 
miles  from  the  present  town  of  Charlotte,  N.  C. 
He  opened  there  the  first  classical  school  in  the 
upper  part  of  Carolina.  He  was  the  founder  of 
Liberty  Hall,  from  which  developed  Queens 
College,  which  eventually  became  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina.  The  second  classical 
school  in  upper  North  Carolina  was  founded  by 
David  Caldwell,  a  Princeton  graduate  of  the 
class  of  1761.  After  serving  as  a  missionary  in 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  he  settled  as  pastor 
of  the  congregations  in  Buffalo  Creek  and  at 
Alamance.  He  fixed  his  residence  in  what 
was  then  Rowan  County  but  is  now  in  Guilford 
County.  It  is  claimed  for  his  school  that  it 
brought  more  men  into  the  learned  professions 
than  any  other  individually  conducted  academy 
in  the  same  period  of  time,  the  list  including  five 
Governors,  about  fifty  ministers  and  a  large  num- 


450  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ber  of  physicians  and  lawyers.  Caldwell  was  a 
member  of  the  convention  of  1776  which  framed 
the  State  Constitution  of  North  Carolina.  He 
suffered  many  privations  and  hardships  during 
the  Revolutionary  War  in  the  course  of  which 
his  house  was  plundered  and  his  library  de- 
stroyed, while  he  lay  in  hiding  in  the  woods.  He 
continued  his  pastoral  labors  until  1820  when  the 
infirmities  of  extreme  old  age  compelled  him  to 
retire  but  he  lived  until  1824  lacking  only  about 
seven  months  of  a  century  when  he  died. 

Samuel  Doak,  a  Princeton  graduate  of  the 
class  of  1775,  was  the  first  minister  to  settle  in 
Tennessee.  His  parents  emigrated  from  Ulster 
to  Pennsylvania  whence  they  emigrated  to 
Augusta  County,  Va.  After  graduating  at 
Princeton,  Doak  became  a  tutor  in  Hampden 
Sidney  college  while  he  was  preparing  for  the 
ministry.  Being  licensed  by  Hanover  Presby- 
tery he  preached  in  Virginia  for  a  short  period 
and  then  removed  to  Tennessee,  where  he  even- 
tually settled  as  pastor  of  a  congregation  on 
Little  Limestone,  in  Washington  County.  He 
built  a  church,  put  up  a  log  schoolhouse  and  in 
1785  opened  a  school  which  was  incorporated  in 
1788  as  the  Martin  Academy.  It  was  the  first 
school  of  classical  learning  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  In  1795  the  institution  was  incorporated 
as  Washington  College.    He  continued  as  Presi- 


THE  SPREAD  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION  451 

dent  until  1818,  when  he  resigned  in  favor  of  his 
son,  the  Rev.  John  M.  Doak,  M.D.,  and  removed 
to  Bethel.  Here  he  opened  an  academy  to 
prepare  youth  for  college,  and  under  his  son 
Samuel  W.  Doak  this  school  grew  into  Tus- 
culum  College. 

Hezekiah  Balch,  a  Princeton  graduate  of  the 
class  of  1766,  was  licensed  by  Donegal  Presby- 
tery, Pa.  His  ministerial  labors  took  him  into 
Tennessee  where  he  founded  a  school  from  which 
Greenville  College  developed.  Samuel  Carrick, 
who  went  from  Virginia  to  Tennessee  about  the 
same  time,  organized  a  church  at  Knoxville,  and 
founded  a  school  which  grew  into  Blount  College. 

The  educational  beginnings  of  Kentucky  were 
due  to  Scotch-Irish  emigration  from  Virginia. 
The  Rev.  David  Rice,  a  Princeton  graduate  of 
the  class  of  1761,  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
Transylvania  Seminary  in  1783,  which  began 
operations  in  1785,  under  Mr.  Rice's  care  in  his 
own  house,  at  or  near  the  present  site  of  Dan- 
ville, Kentucky.  This  was  the  first  school  opened 
in  the  State.  In  1788  the  seminary  was  removed 
to  Lexington,  where  it  had  a  troubled  career. 
What  was  known  as  free  thought  or  liberalism 
had  an  aggressive  championship  in  Kentucky  at 
that  period.  The  leaders  managed  to  get  control 
of  the  corporate  organization  of  the  Seminary, 
and  reorganized  it  in  accord  with  their  views. 


452  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

In  1794  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  pro- 
ceeded to  establish  another  school,  Mr.  Rice  ap- 
pearing before  the  Legislature  in  behalf  of  the 
Presbytery.  A  charter  was  granted  for  the  Ken- 
tucky Academy  which  was  opened  at  Pisgah. 
Collections  were  taken  up  in  its  behalf  and  among 
the  contributors  was  President  Washington. 
The  Kentucky  Academy  was  soon  in  a  sound  and 
prosperous  condition.  Meanwhile  the  institution 
at  Lexington  suffered  so  much  in  reputation  and 
attendance  that  peace  overtures  were  made  from 
those  in  control  there,  and  on  petition  of  both 
boards  in  1798  the  Legislature  passed  an  act 
amalgamating  the  two  institutions  under  the  title 
"Transylvania  University.' '  This  institution 
eventually  fell  under  management  so  obnoxious 
to  its  founders  that  the  Synod  again  took  action 
and  in  1824  Centre  College  was  founded  at 
Danville. 

The  westward  movement  of  Scotch-Irish  set- 
tlement, like  the  southward,  was  marked  by  the 
erection  of  schools.  In  1781  the  population  in 
the  region  of  Pennsylvania  west  of  the  moun- 
tains was  still  small  and  scattered  but  Redstone 
Presbytery  was  organized  and  the  founding  of 
schools  began.  Three  of  the  early  clergymen, 
Thaddeus  Dod,  John  McMillan  and  Joseph 
Smith  opened  schools  in  their  own  houses  or  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood,  in  the  usual  fashion 


THE  SPREAD  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION  453 

of  which  Tennent's  Log  College  on  the 
Neshaminy  was  the  prototype.  Dod  was  a 
Princeton  graduate  of  the  class  of  1773.  In 
1782  he  put  up  a  building  on  his  own  farm  in 
which  he  opened  a  school.  It  continued  in  oper- 
ation for  three  years  and  a  half,  during  which 
time  a  number  of  students  were  prepared  for 
the  ministry.  The  sale  of  the  farm  led  to  the 
closing  of  the  school,  which  occurrence  trans- 
ferred a  number  of  pupils  to  a  school  opened  in 
1785  by  Joseph  Smith,  a  Princeton  graduate  of 
the  class  of  1764,  pastor  of  the  Buffalo  and 
Cross  Creek  congregations.  Owing  to  failing 
health,  Mr.  Smith  was  able  to  conduct  the 
school  only  a  few  years,  and  most  of  the  pupils 
then  went  to  the  "Log  Cabin"  school  of  Dr. 
John  McMillan,  at  Chartiers.  McMillan  was  a 
Princeton  graduate  of  the  class  of  1772.  He 
first  visited  the  Western  country  as  a  missionary 
in  1775,  but  he  did  not  settle  until  1778,  when 
he  took  charge  of  the  congregations  of  Chartiers 
and  Pigeon  Creek,  in  Washington  County. 

It  is  in  dispute  whether  Dod's  school  or 
Smith's  or  McMillan's  was  prior  in  point  of 
time,  but  they  were  all  nearly  coeval,  and  it  is 
certain  that  the  Log  Cabin  Academy  was  the  only 
pioneer  school  that  survived.  From  it  issued  a 
progeny  of  famous  educational  institutions.  In 
1787  a  charter  was  obtained  for  Washington 


454  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Academy,  mainly  through  the  influence  of  Dr. 
McMillan  and  his  two  elders,  Judges  Allison 
and  McDowell,  then  members  of  the  Legislature. 
The  original  list  of  trustees  embraced  all  of  the 
settled  Presbyterian  ministers  west  of  the  Mo- 
nongahela.  It  was  not  until  1789,  that  the 
Academy  went  into  operation  at  Washington, 
Pa.,  under  the  presidency  of  Thaddeus  Dod,  who 
had  agreed  to  take  the  position  temporarily. 
The  institution  lacked  equipment  and  eventually 
the  burning  of  the  court  house,  in  which  classes 
met,  caused  a  suspension  of  operations.  In 
1791  another  academy  was  founded  in  Canons- 
burg,  Dr.  McMillan  taking  a  leading  part  in  the 
movement.  In  later  years,  Dr.  McMillan  in 
giving  an  account  of  his  own  school  at  Chartiers 
said:  "I  collected  a  few  who  gave  evidence  of 
piety,  and  taught  them  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages  some  of  whom  became  useful  and 
others  eminent  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  I  had  still 
a  few  with  me  when  the  academy  was  opened  at 
Canonsburg,  and  finding  I  could  not  teach  and 
do  justice  to  my  congregation,  I  immediately 
gave  it  up  and  sent  them  there."  The  Canons- 
burg school  was  incorporated  in  1794,  and  in 
1802  it  was  chartered  as  Jefferson  College,  un- 
der the  presidency  of  John  Watson,  a  Princeton 
graduate  of  the  class  of  1797.  Washington 
Academy,  which  was  suspended  in   1791,  was 


THE  SPREAD  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION  455 

shortly  afterward  reopened,  and  after  strug- 
gling along  for  years  under  difficulties  it  devel- 
oped such  strength  that  on  March  28,  1806, 
it  received  a  charter  as  Washington  College. 
There  were  then  two  colleges  occupying  the  same 
field  and  appealing  to  the  same  sources  of  sup- 
port. Neither  was  able  to  make  satisfactory 
progress  and  in  1865  they  were  united  under  one 
management  as  Washington  and  Jefferson  Col- 
lege. A  few  years  later  the  operations  of 
the  college  were  all  concentrated  at  Washington, 
Pennsylvania. 

Dickinson  College  at  Carlisle,  Pa.,  was 
founded  in  great  measure  by  the  Scotch-Irish 
Presbyterians  of  Cumberland  and  neighboring 
counties  in  Pennsylvania.  Chartered  in  1783,  it 
was  named  after  John  Dickinson,  President  of 
the  Executive  Council  of  the  State.  Its  first 
President  was  the  Rev.  Charles  Nesbit  of  Mont- 
rose, Scotland,  and  the  other  members  of  the 
faculty  were  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  After  Dr. 
Nesbit 's  death  in  1804  the  institution  languished 
through  lack  of  means  and  in  1833  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  obtained  control  of  the  insti- 
tution, which  has  prospered  under  the  patronage 
of  that  great  denomination. 

The  early  educational  foundations  in  Western 
Pennsylvania  have  had  an  illustrious  progeny, 
among  them  being  Western  University  at  Pitts- 


4*56  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

burgh,  Allegheny  College  at  Meadville,  Frank- 
lin College  at  New  Athens,  Ohio,  which  got  its 
first  President  from  Jefferson  College;  Western 
Reserve  College  at  Hudson,  Ohio;  Wooster 
University,  Wayne  Co.,  Ohio;  besides  numerous 
academies.  Throughout  the  middle  West  as  in 
South  and  Southwest  the  course  of  Scotch-Irish 
settlement  is  marked  by  educational  foundations. 

Although  the  influence  of  Princeton  was  most 
strongly  manifested  in  the  South  and  West,  it 
is  distinctly  marked  in  one  great  northern  insti- 
tution, Brown  University,  originally  Rhode  Is- 
land College.  The  college  was  the  outcome  of 
a  movement  started  by  the  Philadelphia  Baptist 
Association,  whose  agent  was  James  Manning, 
a  Princeton  graduate,  born  in  Elizabethtown, 
N.  J.,  October  22,  1738.  He  made  a  tour  of  the 
Southern  colonies,  but  finally  decided  in  favor  of 
a  Rhode  Island  location.  He  was  the  first  Presi- 
dent of  the  college,  which  was  opened  at  Warren 
in  1764,  but  was  removed  to  Providence  six 
years  later.  The  first  of  the  college  buildings 
erected  in  Providence  was  University  Hall, 
which  was  in  general  a  copy  of  Nassau  Hall  at 
Princeton. 

With  the  growth  of  the  country  in  population 
and  the  blending  of  the  Scotch-Irish  with  the 
general  mass  of  American  citizenship  the  influ- 
ence   of    that    particular    element    while    still 


THE  SPREAD  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION  457 

strongly  operative  becomes  less  distinctly  trace- 
able. In  the  early  period  the  influence  of  Prince- 
ton is  as  strongly  marked  as  the  fertilizing  effects 
of  the  rise  of  the  Nile,  but  progress  is  now  sus- 
tained by  so  many  influences  and  is  carried  on 
through  so  many  channels  that  it  is  no  longer 
possible  to  distinguish  particular  sources  in 
American  education.  It  is  however  clear  enough 
that  Scotch-Irish  emigration  carried  with  it  a 
scholarly  activity  that  laid  the  foundations  of 
popular  education  throughout  the  South  and 
West.  Ample  recognition  of  Princeton  influ- 
ence is  given  in  the  histories  of  education  in  the 
various  States  issued  by  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  Revolutionary  Period 

Although  in  the  eighteenth  century  the  ocean 
made  a  vast  separation  in  space  between  the  two 
countries,  the  sense  of  political  communion  be- 
tween Ireland  and  America  was  very  close. 
They  had  interests  in  common  that  excited  strong 
political  sympathy.  Both  were  dependencies  of 
the  British  Crown;  both  resented  the  claims  of 
the  English  Parliament  to  legislate  for  them,  par- 
ticularly in  the  matter  of  taxation;  both  were 
addicted  to  constitutional  arguments  on  such 
subjects,  and  an  issue  of  the  kind  in  either  coun- 
try attracted  close  attention  in  the  other.  _The_ 
active  part  which  the  Scotch-Irish  took  in  the 
American  Revolution  was  a  continuation  of 
popular  resistance  to  British  policy  that  began  in 
Ulster.  In  1771  the  counties  of  Antrim  and 
Down  were  thrown  into  disorder  by  rackrenting 
practices  of  landlords,  in  which  the  Marquis  of 
Donegal,  an  absentee  landlord,  took  the  leading 
part;  as  leases  expired  he  made  exactions  for 
renewal  so  exorbitant  that  the  total  is  estimated 
at  $500,000.     The  tenant  farmers  were  utterly 

458 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  459 

unable  to  pay  so  they  were  dispossessed,  losing 
the  value  of  their  improvements.  What  is  known 
as  the  Steelboy  insurrection  resulted.  Its  sub- 
sidence was  attributed  by  the  English  historian 
Lecky 

"to  the  great  Protestant  emigration  which 
had  been  long  taking  place  in  Ulster.  The 
way  had  been  opened,  and  the  ejected  ten- 
antry, who  formed  the  Steelboy  bands  and 
who  escaped  the  sword  and  the  gallows,  fled 
by  thousands  to  America.  They  were  soon 
heard  of  again.  In  a  few  years  the  cloud  of 
civil  war  which  was  already  gathering  over 
the  colonies  burst,  and  the  ejected  tenants  of 
Lord  Donegal  formed  a  large  part  of  the 
revolutionary  armies  which  severed  the  New 
World  from  the  British  Crown." 

In  1771  Benjamin  Franklin  visited  Dublin 
where  he  conferred  with  some  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Irish  National  party,  at  that  time  a  Protes- 
tant organization.  "I  found  them,"  he  wrote, 
"disposed  to  be  friends  of  America,  in  which  I 
endeavored  to  confirm  them  with  the  expectation 
that  our  growing  weight  might  in  time  be  thrown 
into  their  scale,  and  by  joining  our  interests  with 
theirs,  a  faiore  equitable  treatment  from  this  na- 
tion [England]  might  be  obtained  for  them- 
selves as  well  as  for  us."  Franklin  recommended 
that  if  possible  an  exception  should  be  made  in 
favor  of  Ireland  in  carrying  out  the  non-impor- 
tation agreement  of  the  American  colonies.  This 


460  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

was  found  to  be  impracticable  but  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  was  sufficiently  concerned  about 
the  matter  to  make  an  apology.  The  address  to 
the  people  of  Ireland,  adopted  on  July  28,  1775, 
declared : 

"Permit  us  to  assure  you,  that  it  was  with 
the  utmost  reluctance  we  could  prevail  upon 
ourselves  to  cease  our  commercial  connexion 
with  your  island.  Your  Parliament  had 
done  us  no  wrong.  You  had  ever  been 
friendly  to  the  rights  of  mankind;  and  we 
acknowledge  with  pleasure  and  gratitude, 
that  your  nation  has  produced  patriots, 
who  have  nobly  distinguished  themselves  in 
the  cause  of  humanity  and  America.  On  the 
other  hand  we  were  not  ignorant  that  the 
labor  and  manufactures  of  Ireland,  like 
those  of  the  silkworm,  were  of  little  mo- 
ment to  herself;  but  served  only  to  give 
luxury  to  those  who  neither  toil  nor  spin. 
We  perceived  that  if  we  continued  our  com- 
merce with  you,  our  agreement  not  to  im- 
port from  Britain  would  be  fruitless,  and 
were,  therefore,  compelled  to  adopt  a  meas- 
ure to  which  nothing  but  absolute  necessity 
would  have  reconciled  us.  It  gave  us,  how- 
ever, some  consolation  to  reflect,  that  should 
it  occasion  much  distress,  the  fertile  regions 
of  America  would  afford  you  a  safe  asylum 
from  poverty,  and,  in  time,  from  oppression 
also;  an  asylum,  in  which  many  thousands 
of  your  countrymen  have  found  hospitality, 
peace  and  affluence,  and  become  united  to 
us  by  all  the  ties  of  mutual  interest  and 
affection." 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  461 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Trade  appointed  by  the  Continen- 
tal Congress  in  1775.  Its  report  submitted  on 
October  2,  1775,  set  forth  that: 

"The  Cessation  of  the  American  Trade 
with  Ireland  originated  in  Policy  dictated 
by  Principles  of  self  Preservation  and  may 
be  attended  with  Distress  to  a  People  who 
have  always  manifested  a  Noble  Regard  to 
the  Rights  of  Mankind  and  have  ever  been 
friendly  to  these  much  injured  Colonies/ ' 

The  committee  then  recommended  that  the 
non-intercourse  agreement  be  relaxed  to  the  ex- 
tent that  "our  Friends  and  Fellow  Subjects  in 
Ireland  should  be  admitted  to  take  Flax  seed 
from  these  Colonies  in  Exchange  for  all  such 
Powder  and  other  military  Stores  and  woolen 
Yarn  of  their  Manufacture  as  they  shall  bring 
to  America." 

This  attitude  of  good  will  was  cordially  recip- 
rocated in  Ireland  and  it  was  manifested  in  the 
Irish  Parliament,  notwithstanding  the  control- 
ling influence  assiduously  maintained  by  the 
English  Government.  Usually  the  address  to 
the  Throne  at  the  opening  of  Parliament  passed 
unopposed  but  at  the  session  of  October,  1775, 
an  amendment  was  proposed  and  was  warmly 
advocated,  strongly  urging  the  necessity  of  "con- 
ciliatory and  healing  measures  for  the  removal 
of  the  discontent  which  prevails  in  the  colonies." 


462  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

The  amendment  was  defeated  by  ninety-two  to 
fifty-two.  Harcourt,  then  the  viceroy  of  Ire- 
land, was  much  displeased  by  the  vigor  with 
which  the  amendment  was  supported,  particu- 
larly since  more  than  half  of  the  members  ab- 
stained from  voting.  Many  of  these  owed  their 
seats  to  government  influence,  and  therefore  felt 
themselves  precluded  by  the  received  code  of 
parliamentary  honor  from  voting  against  the 
Ministers.  Hence  their  abstention  indicated 
American  sympathies  and  made  the  Government 
victory  merely  nominal.  In  his  report  to  the 
English  Government  Harcourt  wrote  that: 
"The  Opposition  to  the  King's  Government  in 
this  country  .  .  .  are  daily  gaining  strength  upon 
this  ground."  He  added  that  "the  Presbyterians 
in  the  North  (who  in  their  hearts  are  Americans) 
are  gaining  strength  every  day."  In  a  later 
report  Harcourt  complained  of  "the  violent  op- 
position made  by  the  Presbyterians  to  the 
measures  of  Government"  and  he  described  them 
as  "talking  in  all  companies  in  such  a  way  that 
if  they  are  not  rebels,  it  is  hard  to  find  a  name 
for  them." 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  political 
ideas  derived  from  Irish  experience  and  poured 
into  the  colonies  by  Ulster  immigration  exerted  a 
powerful  influence  in  moulding  American  insti- 
tutions.    The  principles  involved  were  however 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  463 

but  the  staples  of  the  English  eonstitutional 
system.  The  chief  objects  of  the  Irish  National 
party,  during  the  period  of  Protestant  ascend- 
ency, were  short  Parliaments,  secure  tenure  of 
judicial  authority,  and  a  habeas  corpus  act.  In 
those  things  no  more  was  sought  than  England 
enjoyed.  The  struggle  was  against  peculiar 
privations  to  which  Ireland  was  subject.  The 
duration  of  a  Parliament  in  England  was  limited 
to  seven  years ;  in  Ireland  there  was  no  limit  and 
a  Parliament  had  been  known  to  continue  for 
thirty- three  years.  In  England  judges  held  office 
during  good  behavior ;  in  Ireland,  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  Crown.  The  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
was  not  allowed  in  Ireland,  although  it  was  the 
ordinary  privilege  of  the  subject  in  England. 
As  early  as  1768  the  English  Government  made 
a  concession  on  the  Parliament  issue  by  approv- 
ing a  bill  limiting  the  term  to  eight  years,  but  the 
Ministers  did  not  yield  on  the  other  points  until 
Ireland  was  up  in  arms  and  they  were  powerless 
to  resist.  The  English  Government  then  yielded 
to  Ireland  what  it  had  refused  to  America.  The 
old  system  of  commercial  restriction  was  abol- 
ished, the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  granted,  the 
permanent  tenure  of  judicial  authority  was 
established,  and  the  legislative  independence  of 
Ireland  was  acknowledged.  All  those  conces- 
sions were  results  of  the  American  war.    It  does 


464  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

not  fall  within  the  province  of  this  work  to  trace 
the  history  of  Ulster  since  this  period.  It  may  be 
noted  however  that  the  most  determined  oppo- 
sition to  English  rule  over  Ireland,  up  to  the 
period  when  England  and  Ireland  were  united 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  one  legislature,  the 
Parliament  of  the  United  Kingdom,  came  from 
Ulster.  The  United  Irishmen  movement,  which 
was  the  prelude  to  the  rebellion  of  1798,  started 
in  Belfast,  and  the  chief  strength  of  the  rebellion 
was  in  Ulster.  The  union  of  Ireland  with  Eng- 
land was  originally  intensely  unpopular  in 
Ulster,  but  with  the  removal  of  commercial  dis- 
abilities and  with  enlarged  opportunities  of  trade, 
Ulster  has  become  so  reconciled  to  the  union  that 
it  has  been  a  centre  of  violent  opposition  to  the 
movement  in  favor  of  home  rule  for  Ireland. 

The  particular  source  of  the  ideas  that  presided 
over  American  constitution  making  was  the  po- 
litical experience  of  English  dependencies  dur- 
ing the  eighteenth  century.  Scotland,  Ireland 
and  the  American  colonies  had  the  same  general 
grievances  and  the  same  general  attitude  of  con- 
stitutional protest  against  English  policy.  It  is 
a  significant  circumstance  that  James  Boswell, 
although  indulging  an  almost  abject  admiration 
of  the  massive  old  Tory,  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson, 
could  not  follow  him  in  antipathy  to  the  Ameri- 
can colonists.    Boswell's  own  Toryism  could  not 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  465 

escape  modification  through  his  Scottish  environ- 
ment. Such  considerations  make  intelligible  the 
extraordinary  political  career  of  Dr.  John 
Witherspoon,  brought  from  Scotland  in  1768,  to 
become  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  New  Jersey  Provincial 
Congress  in  1776;  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  1776<-83;  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  1776;  member  of  the  New  Jersey 
Senate,  1780;  member  of  the  New  Jersey  As- 
sembly, 1783;  member  of  the  New  Jersey  con- 
stitutional convention,  1789.  These  political 
activities  he  combined  with  incessant  activity  as 
an  educator  and  continual  occupation  as  a  clergy- 
man. In  one  of  his  political  articles  he  observed 
that  "a  man  will  become  an  American  by  resid- 
ing in  the  country  three  months."  The  consti- 
tutional ideas  which  the  Americans  asserted  in 
opposition  to  the  policy  of  the  British  Ministry 
they  brought  with  them  whether  they  came  from 
England,  Scotland  or  Ireland.  But  the  general 
conviction  was  intensified  among  the  Scotch- 
Irish  by  deep  resentment  of  the  injuries  they  had 
sustained  from  English  rule.  "They  went,"  says 
the  English  historian  Lecky,  "with  hearts  burn- 
ing with  indignation,  and  in  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence they  were  almost  to  a  man  on  the  side 
of  the  insurgents." 

Hence  it  was  noted  early  in  the  American 


466  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

struggle  that  the  Scotch-Irish  were  peculiarly- 
energetic,  united  and  formidable  in  their  oppo- 
sition to  British  policy.  John  Hughes,  who  was 
appointed  Distributer  of  Stamps  for  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  a  report  under  date  of  October  12, 
1765,  said: 

"Common  justice  calls  upon  me  to  say, 
the  body  of  people  called  Quakers,  seemed 
disposed  to  pay  obedience  to  the  Stamp  Act, 
and  so  do  that  part  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land and  Baptists,  that  are  not  some  way 
under  Proprietary  influence.  But  Presby- 
terians and  Proprietary  minions  spare  no 
pains  to  engage  the  Dutch  and  lower  class 
of  people,  and  render  the  royal  government 
odious." 

In  September,  1765,  writing  to  Benjamin 
Franklin,  then  in  England,  Hughes  remarked: 
"When  it  is  known  that  I  have  received  my  com- 
mission, I  fancy  I  shall  not  escape  the  storm  of 
Presbyterian  rage."  At  that  time  Franklin 
himself  was  inclined  to  submit  to  the  Stamp  Act. 

Joseph  Galloway,  than  whom  there  could  be 
no  better  informed  witness,  held  that  the  under- 
lying cause  of  the  American  Revolution  was  the 
activity  and  influence  of  the  Presbyterian  inter- 
est. Galloway  was  an  eminent  Philadelphia 
lawyer  and  an  intimate  friend  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  who  on  going  to  England  as  agent  of 
the  Province  left  his  private  and  public  papers 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  467 

in  Galloway's  charge.  Galloway  entered  the 
Provincial  Assembly  in  1757,  continuing  a  mem- 
ber until  the  Revolution.  From  1766  to  1774  he 
was  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  first  Continental  Congress  in 
1774,  and  was  active  in  the  measures  taken  to  ob- 
tain redress  of  colonial  grievances.  He  was  not 
however  willing  to  go  to  the  length  of  actual  re- 
bellion and  when  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence was  issued  he  went  over  to  the  Loyalist  side. 
He  went  to  England  in  1778  where  he  was  active 
in  spreading  information  about  the  American 
situation,  advocating  redress  of  grievances  and 
a  settlement  of  differences  between  the  mother 
country  and  the  colonies.  Galloway's  course  can 
not  be  attributed  to  self-interest,  as  in  maintain- 
ing his  English  allegiance  he  abandoned  estates 
which  were  estimated  to  be  worth  £40,000.  He 
never  returned  to  America.  In  1788  his  property 
was  confiscated  by  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature, 
but  a  large  portion  was  eventually  restored  to 
his  daughter. 

Galloway,  whose  attitude  to  the  English  Gov- 
ernment was  that  of  the  candid  friend,  held  that 
it  was  the  Presbyterians  who  supplied  to  colonial 
resistance  a  lining  without  which  it  would  have 
collapsed.  In  testimony  before  a  committee  of 
the  House  of  Commons  in  1779  he  declared  that 
at  the  beginning  of  the  revolt  not  one-fifth  of  the 


468  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

people  "had  independence  in  view"  and  that  in 
the  army  enlisted  by  the  Continental  Congress 
"there  were  scarcely  one-fourth  natives  of 
America, — about  one-half  Irish,  the  other  fourth 
were  English  and  Scotch." 

In  1780  Galloway  published  in  London  his 
Historical  and  Political  Reflections,  in  which  he 
gave  the  inside  history  of  the  American  revolt. 
His  account  is  too  important  and  significant  to 
be  summarized,  and  a  verbatim  extract  is  given 
in  Appendix  E.  According  to  Galloway  the  re- 
volt derived  its  formidable  character  from  the 
organized  activity  of  the  Presbyterians.  His  use 
of  the  term  includes  the  New  England  Congre- 
gationalists,  but  the  creation  of  an  organization 
of  continental  scope  he  expressly  imputes  to  the 
leadership  of  the  Pennsylvania  Presbyterians 
who  were  mostly  Scotch-Irish. 

This  is  a  view  of  the  origin  of  the  American 
war  quite  different  from  that  which  has  been 
adopted  by  popular  history,  too  intent  upon 
dramatic  effects  to  give  much  consideration  to 
what  is  going  on  behind  the  scenes  to  produce 
those  effects.  But  Galloway  speaks  from  abun- 
dant personal  observation  of  the  springs  of  ac- 
tion and  the  purpose  of  his  argument  is  such  as 
to  repel  any  suspicion  as  to  the  sincerity  of  his 
opinion.  He  is  arguing  in  favor  of  redressing 
the  legitimate  grievances  of  the  American  colo- 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  469 

nies,  holding  that  in  this  way  the  revolt  may  be 
ended  and  peace  restored.  Analyzing  the  situ- 
ation from  this  point  of  view  he  could  have  no 
disposition  to  exaggerate  obstacles  to  the  policy 
he  was  commending,  and  his  point  is  that  al- 
though what  he  calls  the  Presbyterian  faction  is 
an  implacable  element,  yet  by  judicious  measures 
it  may  be  so  isolated  and  its  influence  so  restricted 
that  it  will  be  unable  to  maintain  the  struggle  for 
independence.     He  said: 

"Sincerely  disposed,  as  the  greater  part 
of  the  people  in  America  are,  to  be  more 
firmly  united  with  Great  Britain  on  consti- 
tutional principles,  is  it  not  much  to  be 
lamented,  that  the  British  legislature,  see- 
ing the  defect  in  its  constitutional  authority 
over  the  Colonies  and  knowing  that  it  is  the 
great  foundation  of  their  discontent,  have 
not  taken  it  into  their  serious  consideration, 
and  adopted  the  measure  most  proper  for 
removing  it?  Had  this  been  done  in  the 
beginning  of  the  opposition  to  the  authority 
of  Parliament,  the  republican  faction  must 
have  been  destitute  of  the  means  by  which 
they  have  inflamed  the  minds  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  led  them  to  a  revolt.  But  I  am 
not  fond  of  dwelling  on  past  errors,  further 
than  is  necessary  to  amendment.  It  is  not 
now  too  late,  and  perhaps  all  circumstances 
considered,  this  is  the  most  proper  time  for 
doing  it." 

His  opinion  is  strongly  corroborated  by  the 
wide  diffusion  of  Loyalist  sentiment  in  the  colo- 


470  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

nies,  the  accessible  facts  in  regard  to  which  are 
collated  in  Sabine's  American  Loyalists.  Of  the 
thirty-seven  newspapers  published  in  the  colonies 
in  April,  1775,  seven  or  eight  were  openly  Loyal- 
ist, and  twenty-three  championed  the  Whig  in- 
terest, but  no  less  than  five  went  over  to  the 
Loyalist  side  during  the  war.  A  distinguished 
New  Jersey  Loyalist  declared  that  "most  of  the 
colleges  had  been  the  grand  nurseries  of  rebel- 
lion" but  he  may  have  been  unduly  impressed 
by  his  proximity  to  Princeton,  which  was  a  centre 
of  Whig  influence  under  the  presidency  of 
Witherspoon.  Upward  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  persons  educated  at  Harvard  or  some  other 
institution  of  learning  were  among  the  Loyalists. 
In  a  number  of  Massachusetts  towns,  among 
them  Marshfield,  Freetown,  Worcester  and 
Sandwich,  the  Loyalists  were  strong  enough  to 
form  associations  to  oppose  the  Whigs.  In 
Boston  itself  the  opponents  of  the  Whigs, 
known  as  "the  Protesters,"  were  upward  of  one 
hundred  and  they  included  eminent  citizens. 
When  the  British  evacuated  Boston  upward  of 
1100  Loyalists  left  at  the  same  time.  Sabine 
says:  "Of  members  of  the  council,  commission- 
ers, officers  of  the  customs  and  other  officials 
there  were  102;  of  clergymen  18;  of  inhabitants 
of  country  towns,  105;  of  merchants  and  other 
persons  who  resided  in  Boston,  213;  of  farmers, 
mechanics  and  traders,  382." 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  471 

In  New  York  State  Tories  were  so  numerous 
that  in  some  counties  Whigs  were  hard  to  find. 
In  New  Jersey  the  Tories  were  strong  enough 
to  wage  war  upon  the  Whigs,  and  to  perpetrate 
dreadful  outrages.  In  parts  of  North  Carolina 
the  Tories  so  far  outnumbered  the  Whigs  as  to 
ravage  their  estates  long  before  any  British 
troops  entered  the  State.  General  Green  esti- 
mated that  some  thousands  had  been  killed  in 
South  Carolina  in  fighting  between  the  Whigs 
and  the  Tories,  and  he  declared  that  "if  a  stop 
cannot  be  soon  put  to  these  massacres,  the  coun- 
try will  be  depopulated."  Some  twenty-nine  or 
thirty  regiments  or  battalions  of  American  Loy- 
alists were  regularly  organized,  armed  and  offi- 
cered. In  an  address  to  the  King  from  American 
Loyalists  presented  in  1779  it  was  declared  that 
their  countrymen  then  in  his  Majesty's  army  "ex- 
ceeded in  number  the  troops  enlisted  [by  Con- 
gress] to  oppose  them."  At  the  time  of  Corn- 
Wallis's  surrender  at  Yorktown  a  part  of  his 
army  was  composed  of  native  Americans,  and 
failing  to  obtain  special  terms  for  them  in  the 
articles  of  capitulation,  he  availed  himself  of  the 
privilege  of  sending  a  ship  northerly  without 
molestation,  to  convey  away  the  most  noted  of 
them.  Sabine  computes  that  the  number  of 
American  Loyalists  who  took  up  arms  for  the 
British  could  not  have  been  less  than  twenty 
thousand. 


472  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

With  such  sharp  division  of  sentiment  among 
the  colonists  it  was  clearly  a  factor  of  inestimable 
importance  that  there  existed  what  Galloway 
designates  as  the  "union  of  Presbyterian  force." 
It  supplied  a  systematic  influence  that  in  the 
circumstances  was  probably  decisive.  The  foren- 
sic leadership  of  American  resistance  was  mainly 
supplied  by  the  older  settled  portions  of  the  colo- 
nies in  which  the  governing  class  was  of  English 
origin,  but  it  could  not  have  been  successful  with- 
out such  organized  popular  support  as  was  sup- 
plied through  the  Ulster  settlements  in  the 
colonies. 

The  most  dispassionate  and  balanced  account 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  is  that  contained  in 
Lecky's  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century.  The  great  English  historian  repeat- 
edly calls  attention  to  the  direct  connection  be- 
tween Ulster  emigration  to  America  and  the 
successful  vigor  of  American  resistance.  The 
Scotch-Irish  were  no  more  forward  in  protests 
against  British  policy  than  the  mass  of  the  popu- 
lation during  the  period  of  agitation  and  contro- 
versy before  the  fighting  began.  They  met  in 
their  frontier  settlements  and  passed  resolutions, 
but  that  was  what  the  colonists  were  doing  all 
over  the  country;  and  they  were  apparently  fol- 
lowing in  the  wake  of  an  agitation  started  by  the 
seaboard  cities,  which  naturally  made  common 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  473 

cause  with  Boston,  since  if  that  port  might  be 
closed  by  the  British  Parliament  any  other  port 
might  be  made  to  suffer  likewise.  It  was,  how- 
ever, rather  remarkable  that  an  issue  of  such  a 
character  should  have  roused  frontier  settlements 
as  it  did;  and  secured  the  prompt  adherence  of  the 
leading  men.  The  bill  closing  the  port  of  Boston 
went  into  operation  June  1,  1774.  A  meeting 
held  at  Carlisle,  Cumberland  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, July  12,  was  presided  over  by  John  Mont- 
gomery, of  Irish  nativity.  The  resolutions 
adopted  were  of  the  usual  tenor  at  the  meetings 
of  this  period,  condemning  the  proceedings  of 
the  British  Ministry  and  favoring  the  united  ac- 
tion of  the  colonies  to  obtain  redress  of  griev- 
ances. Three  deputies  were  chosen  to  a  provin- 
cial convention  and  among  them  was  James  Wil- 
son, born  in  Scotland,  who  became  a  member  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  was  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  was  an  active  and 
influential  member  of  the  constitutional  conven- 
tion of  1787,  and  eventually  a  justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States.  The  other 
deputies,  both  born  in  Ireland,  were  William  Ir- 
win, who  became  a  general,  and  Robert  Magaw, 
who  became  a  colonel,  in  the  army  of  the 
Revolution. 

The  historian  Bancroft  notes  as  a  striking  co- 
incidence that  on  the  day  on  which  Lord  Chat- 


474  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

ham  was  making  his  peace  proposals  to  the  House 
of  Lords,  January  20,  1775,  the  people  of  a  re- 
mote frontier  settlement,  "beyond  the  Alleghe- 
nies,  where  the  Watanga  and  the  forks  of  the 
Holston  flow  to  the  Tennessee"  were  meeting  to 
make  formal  protest  against  British  policy. 
They  were,  says  Bancroft,  "most  of  them,  Pres- 
byterians of  Scotch-Irish  descent."  They  passed 
resolutions  in  favor  of  united  action  and  ap- 
pointed a  Committee  of  Safety. 

The  American  revolt  began  as  a  movement  to 
enforce  redress  of  grievances.  Imputations  that 
the  movement  aimed  at  independence  were  re- 
sented as  libels  rendering  their  utterers  liable  to 
be  called  to  account  by  the  local  Committee  of 
Safety.  It  was  not  until  the  news  came,  early 
in  May,  1776,  that  the  British  Government  was 
using  Hanoverian  and  Hessian  soldiers,  that  the 
opposition  to  independence  succumbed.  In  the 
struggle  to  commit  Congress  to  that  decisive  step 
the  Scotch-Irish  influence  was  active  and  effect- 
ive, but  in  this  respect  the  truth  of  history  has 
been  somewhat  obscured  by  a  vehement  contro- 
versy that  has  gone  on  about  a  document  known 
as  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. The  legend  is  that  at  a  meeting  of  settlers, 
mainly  Scotch-Irish,  in  Charlotte,  Mecklenburg 
County,  N.  C,  on  May  20, 1775,  resolutions  were 
adopted  renouncing  all  allegiance  to  the  British 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  475 

Crown  and  declaring  the  American  people 
to  be  free  and  independent.  The  document 
was  first  brought  to  public  notice  in  1819  and  its 
authenticity  while  energetically  asserted  has 
been  strongly  impugned.  Those  interested  in 
the  details  will  find  a  complete  record  in  Wil- 
liam Henry  Hoyt's  work  with  that  subject  title. 
Even  were  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  authen- 
tic it  would  possess  merely  antiquarian  interest 
rather  than  historical  importance  for  no  recog- 
nition of  such  action  or  mark  of  its  influence  ap- 
pears in  the  records  of  the  times.  There  is  how- 
ever recorded  action  taken  by  a  Mecklenburg 
County  Convention  on  May  31,  1775,  which  is 
of  such  signal  importance  as  marking  the  begin- 
ning of  American  independence  that  it  is  given 
in  its  entirety  in  Appendix  F. 

These  resolutions  practically  constitute  a  state 
of  political  independence.  Crown  authority  is 
annulled,  provincial  authority  under  the  direction 
of  Congress  is  substituted,  and  it  is  declared  that 
no  other  authority  is  in  existence.  Such  lan- 
guage asserts  independence,  and  the  resolutions 
then  go  on  to  make  provision  for  giving  practical 
effect  to  the  decision  by  arranging  for  the  col- 
lection of  taxes,  the  administration  of  justice  and 
the  public  defense.  Resolutions  providing  for 
organized  opposition  to  British  policy  were 
abundant  at  this  period,  but  the  Mecklenburg 


476  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Countv  Convention  was  the  first  to  announce  in- 
dependence.  The  leaders  in  the  meeting  were 
Thomas  Polk,  an  ancestor  of  President  Polk; 
Abraham  Alexander  and  Ephraim  Brevard, 
and  the  movement  derived  its  strength  from  the 
Scotch-Irish  settlers  while  the  opposition  came 
from  other  elements  of  the  community.  Gover- 
nor Martin,  the  royalist  Governor  of  the  Prov- 
ince, in  a  dispatch  of  August  28,  1775,  to  the 
home  Government,  mentions  that  "a  considerable 
body  of  Germans,  settled  in  the  County  of 
Mecklenburg,"  had  forwarded  to  him  "a  loyal 
declaration  against  the  very  extraordinary  and 
traitorous  resolves  of  the  Committee  of  that 
County."  The  Mecklenburg  Resolves  were  not 
only  the  first  to  make  a  virtual  declaration  of 
independence  but  they  also  indicated  the  course 
that  had  to  be  followed  to  attain  independence, 
namely,  the  setting  up  of  a  system  of  govern- 
ment independent  of  Crown  authority.  The  in- 
stitutions of  colonial  government  were  rooted  in 
Crown  authority,  and  they  served  as  intrench- 
ments  for  the  opposition  to  independence.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  it  became  necessary  to  revolution- 
ize colonial  government  before  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  could  be  carried  through  Congress. 
The  Mecklenburg  Resolves  were  the  first  step  in 
this  direction,  and  proclaimed  a  policy  that  nearly 
a  year  later  was  adopted  by  Congress,  On  May 
10,  1776,  Congress  voted: 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  477 

"That  it  be  recommended  to  the  respective 
assemblies  and  conventions  of  the  United 
Colonies,  where  no  government  sufficient  to 
the  exigencies  of  their  affairs  has  been 
hitherto  established,  to  adopt  such  govern- 
ment as  shall  in  the  opinion  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  people,  best  conduce  to  the 
happiness  and  safety  of  their  constituents 
in  particular  and  America  in  general. " 

This  action  was  completed  on  May  15  by 
the  adoption  of  a  preamble  which  pursues  the 
some  line  of  argument  adopted  in  the  Mecklen- 
burg Resolves,  namely,  that  since  the  American 
colonists  had  been  excluded  from  the  protection 
of  the  Crown  "it  is  necessary  that  the  exercise  of 
every  kind  of  authority  under  the  said  Crown 
should  be  totally  suppressed."  The  language 
differs ;  the  argument  is  the  same. 

At  the  time  Congress  took  this  decisive  step 
delegates  from  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  New 
York,  Delaware  and  Maryland  were  under  in- 
structions to  vote  against  independence.  Penn- 
sylvania was  the  keystone  of  the  conservative 
opposition.  The  action  of  Congress  on  May 
15  marks  the  beginning  of  the  movement  that 
overthrew  the  colonial  charter  and  substituted 
State  government.  In  this  struggle  Scotch-Irish 
influence  was  strongly  manifested.  A  petition 
from  Cumberland  County  was  presented  to  the 
Assembly  on  May  22,  requesting  the  withdrawal 


478  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

of  the  instructions  given  to  the  Congressional 
delegates.  On  May  25  the  City  Committee 
of  Philadelphia  issued  a  call  for  a  conference  of 
County  Committees  with  a  view  to  holding  a  con- 
vention to  reconstitute  the  Government.  The  call 
was  signed  by  Thomas  McKean,  chairman.  He 
was  born  at  Londonderry,  Pa.,  March  19,  1734, 
the  son  of  William  and  Laetitia  (Finney)  Mc- 
Ivean,  both  natives  of  Ireland.  Thomas  Mc- 
Kean was  a  leader  of  the  Whig  party  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Assembly.  He  became  a  mem- 
ber in  1765  and  was  reelected  consecutively 
for  seventeen  years.  At  the  time  when  as  chair- 
man of  the  City  Committee  he  started  the  move- 
ment for  a  convention  to  remodel  the  State  Gov- 
ernment the  Assembly,  based  upon  an  inequit- 
able apportionment  and  chosen  by  narrowly 
limited  suffrage,  was  controlled  by  the  conserva- 
tives. The  Quakers  had  issued  an  address  ex- 
pressing "abhorrence  of  all  such  writings  and 
measures  as  evidence  a  desire  and  design  to  break 
off  the  happy  connection  we  have  hitherto  en- 
joyed with  the  kingdom  of  Great  Britain."  The 
County  Committee  of  Philadelphia  opposed  any 
change  in  the  existing  status.  The  western  coun- 
ties had  sent  Whig  representatives  to  the  As- 
sembly. The  city  of  Philadelphia,  which  had 
four  members,  had  elected  three  Conservatives 
and  one  Whig,  after  a  close  contest.     The  As- 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  479 

sembly  was  strongly  disinclined  to  rescind  its 
instructions  against  independence.  Threats  were 
made  to  Congress  that  if  it  made  a  declaration 
of  independence  the  delegates  from  the  middle 
colonies  could  retire  and  possibly  those  colonies 
might  secede  from  the  Union.  But  the  Con- 
gressional leaders  were  now  assured  of  popular 
support  and  the  movement  for  independence 
steadily  advanced. 

At  this  juncture  Joseph  Reed  threw  his  in- 
fluence in  favor  of  rescinding.  He  was  born, 
August  27,  1741,  at  Trenton.  New  Jersey,  of 
Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  his  grandfather  emigrat- 
ing from  Carrickfergus.  The  family  were  well 
to  do,  and  Joseph  received  a  thorough  education. 
He  was  graduated  at  Princeton,  after  which  he 
studied  law  under  Richard  Stockton  of  New  Jer- 
sey and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1763.  He 
went  to  London  to  complete  his  legal  studies, 
and  from  December,  1763,  to  the  spring  of  1765 
was  a  student  in  the  Middle  Temple.  Returning 
to  America  he  settled  in  Philadelphia  to  practice 
his  profession.  When  the  news  arrived  in  May, 
1774,  of  the  bill  closing  the  ports  of  Boston,  Reed 
in  conjunction  with  the  Scotch-Irishman,  Charles 
Thomson,  and  Thomas  Mifflin,  of  Quaker  an- 
cestry, issued  a  call  for  a  massmeeting  of  pro- 
test. From  that  time  on  he  was  active  and 
prominent   as   a   champion   of   colonial   rights. 


480  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

When  Washington  took  the  field  Reed  accom- 
panied him  as  his  military  secretary,  and 
thereafter  remained  his  close  friend  and 
correspondent. 

In  1776  Reed  was  a  member  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Assembly.  Both  he  and  Thomson  were 
classed  as  Moderates.  While  both  were  promi- 
nent Whigs,  both  were  in  favor  of  working  with 
and  through  the  Assembly.  While  the  move- 
ment in  favor  of  independence  was  advancing 
Reed  was  exerting  his  influence  to  bring  the  As- 
sembly into  accord.  Congress  was  sitting  in 
Philadelphia  and  the  leaders  were  in  close  touch 
with  the  Pennsylvania  situation.  On  June  7 
Richard  Henry  Lee  of  Virginia  moved  in  Con- 
gress his  resolution  for  independence,  and  on 
June  8  the  Pennsylvania  delegation  voted 
against  it  five  to  two.  On  June  14  the 
Assembly  adopted  cautiously  worded  resolutions, 
framed  by  a  committee  of  which  Reed  was  a 
member,  which  in  effect  rescinded  the  previous 
instructions  and  authorized  the  delegates  to  use 
their  discretion  in  "adopting  such  other  measures 
as  shall  be  judged  necessary."  On  July  2  the 
vote  of  Pennsylvania  was  recorded  in  favor  of 
independence,  the  delegation  standing  three  to 
two,  two  members  absenting  themselves  to  facil- 
itate this  result.  As  soon  as  Pennsylvania  was 
committed     to     independence     Reed     rejoined 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  481 

Washington  as  his  adjutant-general,  to  which 
position  he  was  appointed  by  Congress  on  June 
5,  at  Washington's  request. 

Charles  Thomson,  whose  name  frequently  ap- 
pears in  the  records  of  the  times  as  a  man  of 
sound  judgment  and  of  great  influence,  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  characters  of  the  period. 
He  was  born  in  Maghera,  County  Derry,  Ire- 
land, November  29,  1729.  While  on  his  way  to 
America  with  his  father  and  three  brothers,  the 
father  died  at  sea.  An  elder  brother  already 
settled  in  America  was  the  only  person  the  boys 
could  look  to  for  aid.  Charles  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  Dr.  Francis  Allison,  who  took  him 
into  his  Academy  at  New  London,  Pa.,  and  gave 
him  such  a  good  education  that  he  became  prin- 
cipal of  the  Friends'  Academy  at  New  Castle, 
Del.  He  had  marked  success  as  a  teacher  and 
also  attracted  notice  through  his  writings  upon 
public  affairs.  He  took  an  active  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  Indians,  and  in  1756  the  Dela- 
wares  adopted  him  into  their  tribe  bestowing 
upon  him  the  name  of  "Man  of  Truth."  A 
marked  trait  of  Thomson's  character  was  self- 
abnegation.  While  from  the  first  active  in  the 
cause  of  American  liberty  he  was  interested  in 
results  rather  than  in  his  personal  distinction  and 
his  activity  was  mainly  behind  the  scenes.  By  a 
fortunate  accident  a  letter  of  his  has  been  pre- 


482  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

served  that  gives  a  specimen  of  his  address  as  a 
political  tactician  and  a  view  of  inside  politics  in 
the  revolutionary  period. 

In  1774,  when  the  news  of  the  British  port 
bill  arrived,  and  Reed,  Thomson  and  Mifflin  were 
laying  plans  to  commit  Pennsylvania  to  joint 
action  with  the  other  colonies,  it  was  deemed  of 
supreme  importance  to  secure  the  cooperation  of 
John  Dickinson,  who  was  of  Quaker  stock  and 
had  great  influence  with  that  element  of  the 
population,  which  if  no  longer  dominant  was 
still  weighty.  It  was  therefore  arranged  to 
create  an  opportunity  for  Dickinson  to  appear 
in  a  moderate  and  conciliatory  attitude.  Thom- 
son himself,  in  an  account  which  he  wrote  in  later 
years  as  an  act  of  justice  to  Dickinson,  says: 

"It  was  agreed  that  his  friend  who  was 
represented  as  a  rash  man  should  press  for 
an  immediate  declaration  in  favor  of  Boston 
and  get  some  of  his  friends  to  support  him 
in  the  measure,  that  Mr.  D should  op- 
pose and  press  for  moderate  measures,  and 
thus  by  an  apparent  dispute  prevent  a  far- 
ther opposition  and  carry  the  point  agreed 
on." 

Thomson  himself  took  the  part  of  "the  rash 
man."  A  meeting  of  leading  citizens  was  held  in 
the  City  Tavern.  Reed  addressed  the  assembly 
"with  temper,  moderation,  but  in  pathetic  terms." 
Mifflin  spoke  next  "with  more  warmth  and  fire." 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  483 

Thomson  then  "pressed  for  an  immediate  dec- 
laration in  favor  of  Boston  and  making  common 
cause  with  her."  The  room  was  hot,  Thomson 
had  scarce  slept  an  hour  for  two  nights  and  he 
fainted  and  was  carried  into  an  adjoining  room. 
Dickinson  then  addressed  the  company.  As 
soon  as  Thomson  recovered  he  returned  to  the 
meeting  and  took  an  active  part  in  its  proceed- 
ings. Upon  his  motion  it  was  decided  that  a 
committee  should  be  appointed  to  voice  the  sense 
of  the  meeting.  Two  sets  of  nominees  were  pro- 
posed but  the  matter  was  compromised  by  ac- 
cepting them  all  as  the  committee.  As  a  result 
of  this  management  the  movers  in  the  business 
got  all  they  desired.     Thomson  relates: 

"The  next  day  the  Committee  met  and 
not  only  prepared  and  sent  back  an  answer 
to  Boston  but  also  forwarded  the  news  to 
the  southern  colonies  accompanied  with  let- 
ters intimating  the  necessity  of  a  Congress 
of  delegates  from  all  the  colonies  to  devise 
measures.  [In  furtherance  of  this  it  was] 
necessary  to  call  a  general  meeting  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  City  at  the  State 
House.  This  required  great  address.  The 
Quakers  had  an  aversion  to  town  meetings 
and  always  opposed  them.  However  it  was 
so  managed  that  they  gave  their  consent, 
and  assisted  in  preparing  the  business  for 
this  public  meeting,  agreed  on  the  persons 
who  should  preside  and  those  who  should 
address  the  inhabitants.' ' 


484  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

There  is  a  touch  of  humor  in  the  selection  of 
the  classical  scholar  Thomson,  a  noted  edu- 
cator, in  which  capacity  he  was  widely  known 
and  respected  by  the  Quakers,  to  act  the  part 
of  "the  rash  man."  It  was  shrewdly  calculated 
to  impress  the  conservative  portion  of  the  com-' 
munity  with  the  need  of  associating  themselves 
with  the  movement  in  order  to  moderate  it. 

Although  Thomson's  influence  was  chiefly  ex- 
erted in  shaping  action,  leaving  the  front  of  the 
stage  to  others,  his  ability  was  well  known. 
John  Adams  characterized  him  as  "the  Sam 
Adams  of  Philadelphia,  the  life  of  the  cause  of 
liberty."  In  1774,  when  the  Continental  Con- 
gress was  first  constituted,  his  assistance  was 
sought  and  without  any  effort  on  his  part  he 
was  installed  in  the  important  position  of  Secre- 
tary of  Congress.  He  refused  to  accept  any 
salary  the  first  year,  but  he  found  that  in  addi- 
tion to  his  ordinary  duties  his  services  were  so 
much  in  request  for  consultation  and  advice  that 
his  work  absorbed  his  time  and  strength,  and  in 
order  to  provide  for  his  family  he  had  to  accept 
compensation.  He  continued  to  serve  as  Sec- 
retary of  Congress  all  through  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  and  afterward  until  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  was  adopted.  He  resigned 
in  1789.  His  modesty,  tactfulness  and  unselfish- 
ness made  him  very  popular  with  the  members, 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  485 

and  in  this  way  he  wielded  a  great  but  unobtru- 
sive influence.  When  the  Count  de  Rochambeau 
arrived  in  America  in  1780  in  command  of  the 
body  of  regulars  sent  by  France,  he  had  with 
him  as  a  chaplain  Abbe  Robin.  As  a  result  of 
Robin's  observations  of  Thomson's  work  in  Con- 
gress he  remarked  that  "he  was  the  soul  of  that 
political  body." 

One  effect  of  the  kindliness  of  Thomson's  char- 
acter must  ever  be  deeply  regretted  by  his- 
torians as  it  caused  a  great  and  irreparable 
loss.  During  his  secretaryship,  which  covered 
the  whole  existence  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
he  accumulated  material  which  he  embodied  in  a 
historical  account ;  but  eventually  he  destroyed  it 
for  fear  that  its  publication  should  give  pain  to 
the  descendents  and  admirers  of  some  of  the 
notables  of  the  Revolutionary  period.  The  rea- 
son seems  inadequate  for  so  great  an  offense 
against  the  truth  of  history.  Sufficient  consider- 
ation for  personal  feelings  could  have  been  dis- 
played by  sealing  the  documents  for  publication 
at  some  future  period.  It  was,  however,  a  char- 
acteristic display  of  self-abnegation  for  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  Thomson  himself  took  an  im- 
portant part  in  promoting  the  adoption  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  As  Secretary  of 
Congress  he  was  in  constant  touch  with  the  ad- 
vocates of  that  measure.     As  a  leader  of  the 


486  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

Whig  party  of  Pennsylvania  he  was  active  in 
promoting  measures  to  bring  that  State  in  line 
with  the  movement.  But  with  the  destruction  of 
his  manuscript  the  details  are  lost.  Their  pre- 
servation would  be  particularly  desirable  as  re- 
gards the  promulgation  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  the  curt  entries  of  the  official 
record  being  insufficient  to  prevent  a  rank 
growth  of  fiction.  Independence  was  actually 
declared  on  July  2,  1776,  by  the  adopting  of  a 
resolution,  "that  these  United  Colonies  are, 
and  of  right,  ought  to  be,  Free  and  Independent 
States ;  that  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance 
to  the  British  Crown,  and  that  all  political  con- 
nexion between  them,  and  the  State  of  Great 
Britain,  is  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved." 
This  resolution  was  a  report  from  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Whole,  which  report  is  in  the 
handwriting  of  Charles  Thomson.  Writing  to 
his  wife  the  next  day,  John  Adams  said:  "The 
second  day  of  July,  1776,  will  be  the  most  me- 
morable epocha  in  America.  ...  It  ought  to  be 
commemorated  as  the  day  of  deliverance  by 
solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  God  Almighty." 

But  the  commemoration  settled  on  the  Fourth 
of  July,  as  that  was  the  day  when  Congress  made 
its  action  public.  It  was  the  practice  of  Congress 
in  arriving  at  an  important  conclusion  to  appoint 
a  committee  to  propose  a  preamble.    This  course 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  487 

was  followed  with  respect  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  as  Lee  had  been  called  to  his 
home  by  the  illness  of  his  wife  Jefferson  became 
chairman  of  the  committee  which  was  appointed 
in  anticipation  of  the  passage  of  the  resolution. 
Jefferson  draughted  the  document  which  was 
adopted  on  July  4,  and  on  the  same  day  Congress 
directed  that  copies  should  be  sent  "to  the  several 
assemblies,  conventions  and  committees  or  coun- 
cils of  safety,  and  to  the  several  commanding  offi- 
cers of  the  Continental  troops;  that  it  be  pro- 
claimed in  each  of  the  United  States  and  at  the 
head  of  the  army."  In  pursuance  of  this  reso- 
lution, Secretary  Thomson  sent  a  copy  to  the 
printer,  a  Scotch-Irishman  named  John  Dunlap. 
The  printer's  copy  is  lost,  but  presumably  was 
in  the  writing  of  Thomson,  who  used  the  broad- 
side print  received  back  from  Dunlap  as  part  of 
the  record  by  wafering  it  in  the  proper  place  in 
the  journal.  The  only  signatures  were  those  of 
John  Hancock,  President;  and  Charles  Thom- 
son, Secretary.  One  of  the  printed  copies  was 
sent  to  the  Committee  of  Safety  in  Philadelphia 
which  directed  that  it  should  be  publicly  pro- 
claimed at  the  State  House  Monday,  July  5. 
This  meeting  was  the  first  public  demonstration 
over  the  passage  of  the  Declaration.*    The  copy 

*Dr.    Herbert   Friedenwald   in   his   monograph   on    The   Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  ascribes  the  legend  of  the  ringing  of  the 


488  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

of  the  Declaration  to  which  signatures  of  mem- 
bers of  Congress  were  attached  was  engrossed  on 
parchment  under  a  resolution  adopted  July  19, 
1776.  It  was  presented  to  Congress  August  2, 
and  was  signed  by  members  present.  Other  sig- 
natures were  appended  later.  Some  of  those 
who  subsequently  signed  were  not  members  of 
Congress  when  the  Declaration  was  adopted  and 
some  who  were  members  at  that  time  never  did 
sign. 

Liberty  Bell,  when  the  Declaration  was  adopted,  to  "the  fertile 
imagination  of  one  of  Philadelphia's  early  romancers,  George 
Lippard."  The  story  was  first  published  in  a  work  entitled 
Washington  and  his  Generals  or  Legends  of  the  Revolution,  by 
George  Lippard;  Philadelphia:  G.  B.  Zeiber  &  Co.,  1847.  It  is 
written  in  a  style  of  turgid  melodrama,  disregarding  the  actual 
facts. 

In  giving  a  fancy  picture  of  the  debate  in  Congress  on  July  4 
Lippard  says:  "Then  the  deep-toned  voice  of  Richard  Henry 
Lee  is  heard  swelling  in  syllables  of  thunder-like  music."  But 
as  a  matter  of  fact  Lee  was  not  present,  having  left  Philadelphia 
on  June  13,  because  of  sickness  in  his  family.  On  July  4  he 
was  attending  the  Virginia  convention.  Lippard  relates  how 
"a  flaxen-haired  boy,  with  laughing  eyes  of  summer  blue"  waited 
at  the  door  of  Congress  for  a  message  to  be  given  by  "a  man 
with  a  velvet  dress  and  a  kind  face."  Meanwhile  in  the  belfry 
stood  "an  old  man  with  white  hair  and  sunburnt  face,"  anxiously 
waiting  for  the  message  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
had  been  adopted.  He  was  almost  in  despair  when  "there 
among  the  crouds  on  the  pavement  stood  the  blue-eyed  boy, 
clapping  his  tiny  hands,  while  the  breeze  blowed  his  flaxen  hair 
all  about  his  face.  And  then  swelling  his  little  chest,  he  raised 
himself  tiptoe,  and  shouted,  a  single  word — Ring!" 

This  account,  which  by  its  style  and  matter  plainly  announces 
itself  to  be  fiction,  is  the  original  version  of  the  ringing  of  the 
Liberty  Bell.  It  has  since  been  taken  into  popular  history  and 
the  mythical  legend  was  widely  propagated  through  the  Centen- 
nial Exhibition  of  1876,  in  which  year  a  new  edition  of  Lip- 
pard's  work  was  issued  and  vigorously  pushed. 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  489 

Robert  It.  Livingston  of  New  York,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  committee  to  draft  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  appears  in  Trumbull's 
famous  picture  of  the  signers,  but  his  name  does 
not  appear  on  the  list,  as  he  was  absent  when 
the  actual  signing  took  place. 

Dr.  Zubly  of  Georgia  had  been  detected  in 
correspondence  with  the  Crown  Governor  of  the 
Province,  and  took  flight.  Congress  requested 
John  Houston,  a  Georgia  delegate  of  Scotch- 
Irish  ancestry  who  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  the 
movement  for  independence,  to  follow  Zubly  to 
counteract  his  plots.  Owing  to  his  absence  on 
this  service  his  name  does  not  appear  among  the 
signers. 

The  name  of  Thomas  McKean  of  Pennsyl- 
vania did  not  appear  on  the  list  of  signers  as 
first  published,  and  he  dlid  not  append  his  signa- 
ture until  some  time  in  1781. 

The  explanation  of  such  circumstances  is  that 
the  adoption  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  a  means  to  an  end,  and  the  leaders  were  too 
intent  upon  that  to  concern  themselves  at  the 
time  about  the  formalities  that  have  since  become 
so  precious  to  popular  history.  McKean  was 
active  in  Congress  in  support  of  the  adoption  of 
the  Declaration,  and  as  chairman  of  the  Phila- 
delphia City  Committee  he  took  a  leading  part  in 
overthrowing  the  Pennsylvania  opposition  to  in- 


490  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

dependence.  At  the  same  time  he  was  raising 
troops  to  strengthen  General  Washington's 
forces  then  in  New  Jersey.  Upon  the  same  day 
the  Declaration  was  adopted,  Congress  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  confer  with  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Committee  of  Safety  on  the  subject,  and 
the  conference  took  place  on  July  5.  As  a  re- 
sult McKean  left  for  the  scene  of  war  as  colonel 
of  a  regiment,  so  he  was  absent  when  the  Decla- 
ration came  up  for  signatures  on  August  2,  1776. 

The  annual  celebration  of  July  4,  as  Inde- 
pendence Day,  started  the  following  year.  A 
letter  preserved  in  the  North  Carolina  Records, 
written  from  Philadelphia,  July  5,  1777,  notes 
that  at  the  celebration  on  the  preceding  day  "a 
Hessian  band  of  music  which  were  taken  at 
Princeton  performed  very  delightfully,  the 
pleasure  being  not  a  little  heightened  by  the  re- 
flection that  they  were  hired  by  the  British  court 
for  purposes  very  different  from  those  to  which 
they  were  applied." 

Of  the  fifty-six  signers,  three  were  natives  of 
Ireland,  Matthew  Thornton  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  James  Smith  and  George  Taylor  of 
Pennsylvania.  All  three  were  probably  from 
Ulster,  although  that  fact  is  not  of  record  in  the 
case  of  Smith  and  Taylor.  Two  signers,  James 
Wilson  and  John  Witherspoon,  were  natives  of 
Scotland.    Two  were  natives  of  England,  But- 


THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD  491 

ton  Gwinnett  and  Robert  Morris.  Francis 
Lewis  of  New  York  was  born  at  Llandaff,  Wales. 
Forty-eight  of  the  signers  were  American-born, 
five  of  them  of  Irish  ancestry,  Carroll,  Lynch, 
McKean,  Read  and  Rutledge.  But  of  these  only 
McKean  and  Rutledge  were  of  Ulster  deri- 
vation. Lynch's  people  came  from  Connaught, 
Read's  from  Dublin  and  Carroll's  from  King's 
County,  in  central  Ireland.  Two  signers, 
Hooper  and  Philip  Livingston,  were  of  Scotch 
descent.  Four,  Jefferson,  Williams,  Floyd  and 
Lewis  Morris,  were  of  Welsh  descent.  John 
Morton,  one  of  the  Pennsylvania  signers,  was  of 
Swedish  stock.  Thirty-six  of  the  American  born 
signers  were,  so  far  as  known,  of  English  an- 
cestry. Combining  these  data  we  have  the  fol- 
lowing apportionment:  English  thirty-eight, 
Irish  eight  (including  five  of  Ulster  ancestry), 
Scotch  four,  Welsh  five,  Swedish  one. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

The  Birth  of  the  Nation 

The  extensive  participation  of  the  Scotch-Irish 
in  the  Revolutionary  War  has  been  generally  set 
forth  in  preceding  chapters.  Consideration  of 
particulars  shows  how  vitally  important  was  the 
support  of  that  element.  Its  military  traditions 
and  its  tenacity  of  character  were  specially  valu- 
able in  the  discouraging  circumstances  under 
which  American  resistance  was  kept  up.  There 
was  much  to  dishearten  and  even  to  repel  patri- 
otic sentiment  in  the  way  in  which  the  war  was 
conducted  and  there  were  periods  when  it  seemed 
that  the  cause  would  collapse  from  its  own 
weakness.  There  was  one  such  period  soon  after 
the  Revolutionary  War  was  fairly  started. 

The  actual  beginning  of  hostilities  was  a  casual 
explosion.  The  battle  of  Lexington,  April  19, 
1775,  was  brought  on  by  an  expedition  sent  out 
by  General  Gage  to  destroy  some  military  stores 
collected  by  the  Americans  at  Concord.  The 
British  troops  accomplished  their  purpose  but  the 
countryside  rose  against  them  and  on  their  way 
back  they  were  sniped  at  from  behind  hedges, 

499 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  493 

walls  and  farm  buildings,  so  that  they  sustained 
heavy  losses.  The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  June 
17,  1775,  was  brought  on  by  the  attempt  of  the 
British  commander  to  strengthen  his  position  by 
occupying  an  eminence  commanding  Boston  har- 
bor. The  Americans  heard  of  his  intention,  slip- 
ped in  ahead  of  him  during  the  night  and  threw 
up  some  earthworks.  The  engagement  that  en- 
sued illustrated  both  the  strength  and  the  weak- 
ness of  American  volunteers  and  militia. 

The  Americans,  long  accustomed  to  meeting 
frontier  perils,  had  a  general  familiarity  with 
firearms,  the  use  of  which  among  the  middle  and 
lower  classes  of  England  was  almost  unknown, 
owing  to  the  game  laws  and  to  the  sheltered  con- 
dition of  their  lives.  Hence  American  militia 
excelled  in  marksmanship  even  when  confronted 
with  the  regular  troops  of  England.  But  the 
Americans  were  without  the  discipline  that  keeps 
troops  steady  and  obedient  to  command.  Their 
instinct  was  to  look  out  for  themselves  and  if 
the  notion  seized  them  that  the  issue  was  turning 
against  them  they  were  likely  to  break  precipi- 
tately. At  Breed's  Hill  a  force  of  about  1,500 
men  endured  for  hours  the  fire  from  British  ships 
in  the  harbor,  and  then  repulsed  two  attacks 
made  by  a  superior  force  of  British  regulars. 
But  they  gave  way  before  the  third  attack, 
largely  owing  to  the  fact  that  their  ammunition 


494  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

had  run  out.  The  troops  on  Bunker  Hill,  seeing 
the  retreat  from  Breed's  Hill,  could  not  be  held 
in  line,  although  General  Putnam  stormed,  im- 
plored, raged  and  pleaded.  The  English  gained 
the  field,  but  at  such  a  heavy  cost  in  killed  and 
wounded  as  to  open  their  eyes  to  the  fact  that  the 
Americans  were  really  formidable  foes,  and  sel- 
dom if  ever  has  any  other  battle  made  such  a 
favorable  impression  for  the  defeated  side. 

So  far,  however,  the  warfare  was  really  on  a 
tiny  scale,  and  the  British  troops  in  Boston  were 
so  encompassed  by  a  hostile  population  that  only 
defective  organization  on  the  American  side  en- 
abled them  to  hold  their  ground  so  long  as  they 
did.  It  was  not  until  after  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  that  Washington  was  appointed  comman- 
der-in-chief of  the  American  forces.  His  cor- 
respondence from  the  American  camp  at 
Cambridge  gives  a  picture  of  continual  vexation 
and  perplexity  as  to  the  material  from  which  he 
was  seeking  to  fashion  an  army.  The  British  in 
Boston  remained  quiescent  until  Washington 
was  ready  to  move.  On  the  night  of  March  4, 
1776,  Washington  made  their  position  untenable 
by  occupying  Dorchester  Heights.  The  British, 
then  numbering  about  7,600,  got  into  their  ships 
and  sailed  for  Halifax.  But  this  small  force  had 
held  Boston  for  eleven  months,  after  all  the 
country  around  had  risen  in  revolt  with  help 
coming  from  the  other  colonies. 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  495 

The  Boston  campaign  hardly  belongs  to  the 
strategy  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  It  was  es- 
sentially an  insurrection  with  which  the  British 
forces  were  not  strong  enough  to  cope  and  be- 
fore which  they  retreated.  General  Washington 
himself  thought  that  if  they  had  used  their  op- 
portunities energetically  it  might  have  gone  hard 
with  his  command,  but  allowance  must  be  made 
for  the  doubts  and  uncertainties  which  beset  the 
British  general,  confronted  not  by  an  avowed 
public  enemy  but  by  fellow  subjects  having  emi- 
nent support  even  in  the  British  Parliament.  It 
was  not  until  after  the  Boston  campaign  that  the 
business  of  suppressing  American  resistance  was 
seriously  taken  in  hand  as  a  military  problem. 
The  center  of  operations  then  shifted  from  Bos- 
ton never  to  return,  and  in  view  of  the  promi- 
nence of  Massachusetts  in  the  transactions  bring- 
ing on  the  war  her  actual  experience  of  its  stress 
was  remarkably  small. 

The  little  army  which  General  Howe  took 
with  him  from  Boston  to  Halifax  in  March,  1776, 
he  transferred  from  Halifax  to  New  York  har- 
bor in  the  following  June  and  on  July  8  he 
established  his  camp  on  Staten  Island.  Rein- 
forcements soon  arrived  on  an  English  fleet  com- 
manded by  his  brother,  Admiral  Howe,  and 
additional  reinforcements  were  obtained  through 
troops  withdrawn  from  Virginia,  South  Carolina 


496  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

and  the  West  Indies,  making  his  total  force 
about  30,000  strong. 

Field  operations  by  the  British  opened  on 
August  22,  with  the  landing  of  troops  on  Long 
Island.    The  American  army  was  defeated  at  the 
battle  of  Long  Island,  August  27;  and  again  at 
the  battle  of  Harlem  Plains,  September  16,  and 
again  at  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  October  28, 
1776.  Washington  saved  the  remnant  of  his  army 
by  crossing  the  Delaware  River  into  Pennsyl^ 
vania,  but  his  situation  seemed  almost  desperate. 
His  letters  during  this  period  complain  bitterly 
of  the  character  of  the  officers  and  men  with 
whom  he  was  expected  to  defend  his  country. 
Writing  to  his  brother  on  November  19,  1776, 
Washington  said:  "The  different  States,  without 
regard  to  the  qualifications  of  an  officer,  are 
quarreling  about  the  appointments,  and  nominate 
such  as  are  not  fit  to  be  shoeblacks,  from  the 
local  attachments  of  this  or  that  member  of  As- 
sembly."   Joseph  Reed,  who  was  Washington's 
adjutant-general  throughout  the  campaign  of 
1776  in  New  York  and  the  Jerseys,  wrote  that 
"a  spirit  of  desertion,  cowardice,  plunder,  and 
shrinking  from  duty  when  attended  by  fatigue  or 
danger,  prevailed  but  too  generally  through  the 
whole  army." 

Washington's  difficulties  were  greatly  aggra- 
vated  by   the   widespread    disaffection   to    the 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  497 

American  cause  which  existed  in  all  the  middle 
colonies  and  was  particularly  strong  in  Penn- 
sylvania where  many  people  had  been  alienated 
by  the  revolutionary  subversion  of  the  charter 
Government.  After  he  had  crossed  the  Dela- 
ware he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "We  are  in  a  very  dis- 
affected part  of  the  Province,  and  between  you 
and  me  I  think  our  affairs  are  in  a  very  bad  con- 
dition; not  so  much  from  the  apprehension  of 
General  Howe's  army  as  from  the  defection  of 
New  York,  the  Jerseys  and  Pennsylvania."  The 
capture  of  Philadelphia  seemed  so  imminent  that 
Congress  fled  to  Baltimore. 

The  Pennsylvania  rejmluiJott--VE^^aTniy^ "bhe 
.oLthe  Scotch-Irish  element  of  the  popula- 
tion,  but  it  was  not  approved  by  all  the  Scotch- 
Irish.  Charles  Thomson  always  regarded  it  as 
an  untoward  event  that  hurt  much  more  than  it 
helped  the  American  cause.  Close  study  of  the 
period  in  our  own  time  has  on  the  whole  corrobo- 
rated Thomson's  views.  Paul  Leicester  Pord 
concludes  a  minute  account  of  the  revolution  that 
overthrew  the  charter  institutions  of  Pennsyl- 
vania with  this  statement  of  the  consequences: 

"The  price  paid  is  hard  to  compute.  The 
division  in  the  State  had  far  reaching  re- 
sults. It  prevented  Washington  from  re- 
ceiving the  full  aid  of  the  most  important 
State  of  the  Union  at  Long  Island,  at  White 
Plains  and  in  the  campaign  of  the  Jerseys. 


498  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

It  alienated  the  richest  city  and  the  best 
grain  and  beef  region  from  the  American 
cause.  It  made  Tories  of  many  and  ren- 
dered Howe's  eventual  occupation  of  Phila- 
delphia almost  the  occupation  of  a  friendly 
country.  It  so  weakened  the  Government  of 
Pennsylvania  that  for  months,  at  the  most 
critical  period  of  the  war,  it  not  only  was 
powerless  to  aid  the  Continental  side  but  had 
actually  to  rely  on  the  Congress  for  support. 
It  created  a  lawlessness  in  the  people  that 
led  to  riots  and  confusion  equalled  in  no 
other  State,  to  the  mutiny  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania line,  the  driving  of  Congress  from 
Philadelphia  and  the  later  civil  insurrec- 
tions. Finally  it  built  up  a  powerful  'popu- 
larise party,  opposed  to  commerce,  to  sound 
finance  and  to  federal  union,  that  for  many 
years  hung  like  a  dead  weight  on  all  at- 
tempts tending  to  advance  those  measures." 

But  if  the  Scotch-Irish  were  mainly  responsi- 
ble for  these  consequences  by  outrunning  public 
opinion  in  general  by  their  radical  measures,  they 
retrieved  the  situation  by  their  staunch  loyalty 
to  the  American  cause.  As  soon  as  Washington 
had  crossed  the  Delaware  he  was  in  touch  with 
the  Scotch-Irish  settlements  in  Bucks  and  North- 
ampton Counties  and  felt  the  sustaining  influ- 
ences of  active  popular  support.  Clothing  and 
blankets  were  collected  by  committees  of  citizens 
for  the  use  of  his  soldiers.  The  Rev.  John  Ros- 
brugh,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Allen  and  Lower  Mount  Bethel,  Northampton 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  499 

County,  raised  a  company  and  brought  it  to 
join  the  Continental  army.  The  patriotic 
clergyman  was  killed  by  the  enemy  a  few  weeks 
later.  More  important  even  than  the  direct  aid 
was  the  assurance  of  protection  against  surprise 
by  volunteer  scouts  in  every  direction.  The 
Scotch-Irish  farmers  could  be  depended  upon  to 
watch  the  roads  and  convey  prompt  intelligence 
of  a  movement  in  any  quarter. 

With  his  base  of  operations  thus  made  secure 
Washington  was  in  a  position  to  conceive  and 
execute  the  brilliant  exploits  by  which  he  gained 
military  renown  in  the  crisis.  The  initiative 
was  Washington's  own.  On  December  14  he 
wrote  to  Governor  Trumbull  of  his  purpose  "to 
attempt  a  stroke  upon  the  forces  of  the  enemy, 
who  lie  a  good  deal  scattered,' '  in  the  hope  that 
success  would  "rouse  the  spirits  of  the  people, 
which  are  quite  sunk  by  our  late  misfortunes." 
The  particular  stroke  actually  attempted  ap- 
pears to  have  been  due  to  the  suggestion  of  Reed, 
who  wrote  from  Bristol,  N.  J.,  December  22, 
1776,  giving  detailed  information  of  the  location 
of  the  British  forces,  and  asking,  "Will  it  not  be 
possible,  my  dear  general,  for  your  troops,  or 
such  part  of  them  as  can  act  with  advantage,  to 
make  a  diversion,  or  something  more,  at  or  about 
Trenton?"  He  went  on  to  urge  that  "our  cause 
is  desperate  and  hopeless,  if  we  do  not  take  the 


500  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

opportunity  of  the  collection  of  troops  at  present, 
to  strike  some  stroke."  On  receipt  of  this  letter 
Washington  at  once  sent  for  Reed  to  come  to  his 
headquarters  and  the  arrangements  were  made 
for  the  attack  upon  the  Hessians  at  Trenton  on 
the  night  of  Christmas.  The  stroke  was  com- 
pletely successful.  The  Hessians  were  defeated 
and  their  commander  was  mortally  wounded. 
Washington  having  secured  his  prisoners  re- 
crossed  the  Delaware  and  resumed  his  former 
position  in  Bucks  County. 

Meanwhile  Reed  was  active  in  getting  infor- 
mation of  the  position  of  the  enemy  and  on 
December  28  he  was  able  to  send  to  Washington 
an  account  of  conditions  offering  an  opportunity 
for  another  stroke.  Washington  at  once  set  the 
troops  in  motion  and  on  the  30th  he  reoccupied 
Trenton.  The  General  directed  Reed,  who  was 
a  Princeton  graduate  and  knew  the  country  well, 
to  make  a  reconnoissance.  Reed  at  once  set  out 
accompanied  by  six  horsemen,  members  of  the 
Philadelphia  city  troop — John  Dunlap,  James 
Hunter,  Thomas  Peters,  William  Pollard,  and 
James  and  Samuel  Caldwell.  This  little  detach- 
ment performed  a  remarkable  exploit,  thus  re- 
lated by  Reed: 

"We  met  with  little  success  on  our  way,  or 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Princeton,  to 
which  we  had  approached  within  three  miles. 
The  ravages  of  the  enemy  had  struck  such 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  501 

terror  that  no  rewards  would  tempt  the  in- 
habitants, though  otherwise  well  disposed, 
to  go  into  Princeton  on  this  errand.  But 
it  being  fully  resolved  not  to  return  while 
there  was  a  chance  of  success,  it  was  con- 
cluded to  pass  on,  and  even  to  go  round 
Princeton,  expecting  that  in  the  rear  they 
would  be  less  guarded.  As  we  were  passing 
slowly  on,  almost  within  view  of  the  town, 
a  British  soldier  was  observed  passing  from 
a  barn  to  the  dwelling  house  without  arms. 
It  being  supposed  that  he  was  a  marauder 
two  of  our  party  were  sent  to  bring  him  in, 
but  they  had  scarcely  set  out  before  another 
was  seen,  and  then  a  third,  when  orders  were 
given  for  our  whole  party  to  charge.  This 
was  done,  and  the  house  surrounded.  Twelve 
British  soldiers,  equipped  as  dragoons,  and 
well  armed,  their  pieces  loaded,  and  having 
the  advantage  of  the  house,  surrendered  to 
seven  horsemen,  six  of  whom  had  never  be- 
fore seen  an  enemy." 

Reed  returned  to  headquarters  with  these  and 
other  prisoners  the  same  evening.  The  British 
began  to  concentrate  against  Washington's  po- 
sition in  Trenton  and  began  an  attack  on  Jan- 
uary 2,  1777.  He  decided  to  make  a  forced 
march  during  the  night  and  attack  the  British 
in  Princeton.  This  movement  brought  on  the 
battle  of  Princeton,  in  which  the  British  were 
signally  defeated. 

The  effect  of  these  brilliant  successes  upon 
the  fortunes  of  war  was  far  greater  than  the 


502  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

actual  gains  would  indicate.  Congress  returned 
to  Philadelphia  and  adopted  measures  for  re- 
organizing the  army.  The  Jerseys  were  practi- 
cally abandoned  by  the  British.  The  English 
historian  Lecky  says  that  "a  fatal  damp  was 
thrown  upon  the  cause  of  the  Loyalists  in 
America  from  which  it  never  wholly  recovered." 
The  British  Government  planned  a  campaign 
in  1777  which  if  successful  would  have  cut  the 
theatre  of  war  in  two.  General  Burgoyne,  who 
had  served  with  distinction  in  the  war  in  Portu- 
gal, was  in  command  of  the  British  forces  in 
Canada.  The  plan  was  that  he  should  move 
southward  to  the  Hudson,  and  in  cooperation 
with  General  Clinton,  stationed  in  New  York, 
and  General  Howe,  stationed  in  Philadelphia, 
hold  the  line  of  the  Hudson,  severing  New  Eng- 
land from  the  rest  of  the  country.  The  southern 
part  of  the  campaign  was  carried  out  according 
to  the  design.  Clinton  held  New  York  and 
Howe  was  able  to  occupy  Philadelphia  after  de- 
feating General  Washington  at  the  battle  of 
Brandywine.  Meanwhile  Burgoyne  was  pushing 
southward.  He  drove  the  Americans  out  of  their 
fortifications  at  Ticonderoga  and  during  their  re- 
treat inflicted  upon  them  crushing  defeats,  the 
remnants  that  escaped  fleeing  in  the  direction  of 
Albany.  Affairs  seemed  in  a  desperate  state, 
when  the  New  Hampshire  authorities  appealed 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  503 

to  John  Stark  to  take  charge  of  the  defense  of 
that  State. 

Stark's  career  is  finely  illustrative  of  the  mili- 
tary aptitude  implanted  in  the  Scotch-Irish  by 
their  Ulster  training  and  by  their  frontier  ex- 
perience in  America.  Born  in  Londonderry, 
N.  H.,  in  1728,  he  experienced  Indian  captivity 
in  his  boyhood  and  gained  a  knowledge  of  the  in- 
terior that  enabled  him  to  act  as  a  scout  for  an 
expedition  sent  into  the  Indian  country  in  1753. 
In  1755  he  was  commissioned  lieutenant  of  a 
company  stationed  at  Fort  Edward.  While  this 
company  was  upon  an  expedition  it  was  at- 
tacked in  overpowering  numbers  by  the  French 
and  Indians,  and  all  the  superior  officers  were 
killed  or  wounded,  so  that  the  command  devolved 
upon  Stark.  He  managed  the  retreat  so  skill- 
fully that  he  was  successful  in  reaching  Fort 
George  with  his  men,  bringing  all  his  wounded. 
He  was  at  once  commissioned  captain  and  served 
throughout  the  French  War,  gaining  a  high 
reputation  as  a  cool  and  intrepid  tactician. 

It  was  only  natural  that  a  man  of  his  military 
experience  and  ability  should  be  prominent  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  At  the  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities he  received  a  colonel's  commission  and 
raised  a  regiment  almost  in  a  day.  That  regi- 
ment formed  the  left  of  the  American  line  at  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  covered  the  retreat. 


504  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

After  the  evacuation  of  Boston  Colonel  Stark 
with  his  regiment  was  sent  to  New  York  which 
he  assisted  in  fortifying.  The  following  spring 
he  took  part  in  the  Canadian  campaign,  at  the 
close  of  which  he  joined  Washington  in  New 
Jersey,  a  few  days  before  the  battle  of  Trenton, 
in  which  engagement  he  commanded  the  van  of 
the  right  wing.  Although  his  efficiency  in  the 
New  Jersey  campaign  was  generally  recognized 
he  was  passed  over  in  the  promotions  made  by 
Congress,  while  colonels  whom  he  outranked  be- 
came brigadiers.  Stark  resented  the  slight  so 
deeply  that  he  resigned  his  commission  and  re- 
tired to  his  New  Hampshire  farm.  As  it  turned 
out  this  retirement  was  the  prelude  to  a  most  im- 
portant military  service. 

In  response  to  the  call  of  his  State  he  formed 
an  independent  corps,  the  strength  of  which  was 
largely  drawn  from  the  Scotch-Irish  settlements. 
Stark  had  stipulated  that  he  should  not  be  sub- 
ject to  any  orders  save  from  his  own  State.  He 
refused  to  recognize  orders  reaching  him  from 
the  commander  of  the  Continental  troops  oppos- 
ing Burgoyne.  This  discord  seemed  to  Burgoyne 
to  afford  a  good  opportunity  for  striking  a  blow, 
but  the  actual  result  was  a  severe  reverse  that 
was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  his  campaign. 

Burgoyne  dispatched  a  well  appointed  force  to 
attack  Stark's  independent  corps  which,  being 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  505 

composed  of  volunteers  and  State  militia,  seemed 
to  be  an  easy  prey.  The  only  uniformed  troops 
in  Stark's  command  were  the  Green  Mountain 
rangers  who  wore  hunting  frocks  with  green 
facings.  On  August  13,  1777,  Stark  received 
word  that  Indian  scouts  acting  for  the  British 
had  appeared  twelve  miles  from  Bennington, 
Vt.,  and  he  began  preparations  at  once. 
The  British  commander  took  position  upon  high 
ground,  made  intrenchments  and  mounted  two 
pieces  of  ordnance.  During  the  fifteenth  there 
was  skirmishing  which  had  the  effect  of  driving 
off  the  Indian  scouts.  Meanwhile  Stark  made  a 
shrewd  plan  of  attack,  involving  a  feint  divert- 
ing attention  from  the  main  assault.  The  attack 
was  completely  successful.  The  British  were 
driven  out  of  their  intrenchments,  although  the 
Americans  had  not  a  single  cannon  to  support 
their  attack.  The  British  fled  abandoning  their 
baggage  and  artillery. 

It  was  rather  a  characteristic  incident  of 
American  warfare  at  this  period  that  the  battle 
was  nearly  lost  after  it  had  been  won.  With  the 
retreat  of  the  British  the  Americans  dispersed  to 
collect  plunder.  Reinforcements  sent  by  Bur- 
goyne  came  up,  arresting  the  retreat  and  renew- 
ing the  battle.  Stark  had  difficulty  in  holding  his 
position.  At  the  nick  of  time  fresh  troops  ar- 
rived from  Bennington  and  by  their  aid  Stark 


506  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

kept  up  the  battle  which  was  fought  with  obsti- 
nacy until  sunset  when  the  enemy  finally  broke 
and  fled.  Among  the  numerous  prisoners  made 
by  the  Americans  was  the  British  commander 
who  was  badly  wounded  and  died  soon  afterward. 
Although  known  as  the  battle  of  Bennington  the 
action  really  took  place  about  seven  miles  distant 
in  New  York  territory,  two  miles  west  of  the 
Vermont  boundary.  Congress  now  appointed 
Stark  a  brigadier-general,  and  he  served  until  the 
close  of  the  war,  when  he  retired,  declining  all 
public  office.  He  lived  to  be  ninety-four,  dying 
at  Manchester,  N.  H.,  May  2,  1822. 

The  battle  of  Bennington  led  to  the  failure  of 
Burgoyne's  campaign.  His  line  of  march  was 
flanked  by  a  tier  of  Scotch-Irish  settlements, 
from  which  volunteers  and  militia  poured  into 
the  American  camp.  The  spirit  of  the  soldiers 
was  animated  by  Stark's  victory  and  Burgoyne 
at  last  found  himself  in  a  position  from  which  he 
could  neither  advance  nor  retreat.  All  his  com- 
munications were  cut  off  and  he  was  hopelessly 
outnumbered.  On  October  17,  1777,  Burgoyne 
surrendered  his  entire  command.  The  event 
practically  decided  the  issue  of  the  struggle 
for  it  secured  the  French  alliance.  Previously 
the  French  Government  had  been  undecided  but 
when  the  news  reached  Europe  the  American 
commissioners  were  notified  that  France  was  now 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  507 

ready  to  acknowledge  and  support  American  in- 
dependence. 

The  carrying  on  of  the  war  with  France  so 
occupied  the  British  Government  that  operations 
in  America  languished  for  several  years.  In 
June,  1778,  the  British  evacuated  Philadelphia, 
and  although  they  still  held  New  York,  no  syste- 
matic American  campaign  was  undertaken  until 
1780,  when  the  Southern  States  became  the 
theatre  of  operations.  Clinton,  with  forces  sent 
from  New  York,  landed  in  the  vicinity  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  March,  1780,  and 
although  the  American  garrison  made  an  obsti- 
nate defense  it  was  at  last,  on  May  12,  obliged 
to  capitulate.  Soon  after  Clinton  returned  to 
New  York,  leaving  Cornwallis  to  prosecute  the 
war.  What  followed  is  like  the  story  of  Bur- 
goyne's  campaign,  over  again,  with  a  similar 
turning  point. 

On  August  16,  1780,  the  American  army 
under  General  Gates  was  defeated  by  Cornwallis, 
near  Camden,  S.  C,  and  its  organization  was 
shattered.  Two  days  later  Tarleton  routed 
Sumter  at  Fishing  Creek.  American  resistance 
for  the  time  was  crushed  out  except  in  the 
western  section  where  Scotch-Irish  settlements 
were  thick.  Cornwallis  detached  Major  Patrick 
Ferguson  with  a  force  of  regulars  and  Tories,  to 
scour  the  country  west  of  the  Wateree,  beat  back 


508  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  Mountain  Men,  as  the  frontiersmen  were 
called,  and  rally  the  Loyalists.  Major  Ferguson 
came  of  the  same  stock  as  those  who  were  soon 
to  end  his  career,  up  to  this  time  one  of  brilliant 
promise.  He  was  born  in  Scotland,  son  of  the 
eminent  jurist  James  Ferguson,  and  nephew  of 
Lord  Elibank.  He  served  with  the  army  in 
Flanders  when  only  eighteen  years  old.  He 
came  to  America  with  his  regiment  in  1777  and 
was  active  in  the  battle  of  the  Brandywine  in 
September  of  that  year.  He  was  engaged  in 
operations  on  the  Hudson  in  1779,  establishing 
his  reputation  as  an  able  and  energetic  officer. 
At  the  siege  of  Charleston  in  1780  he  so  distin- 
guished himself  that  he  received  special  mention 
from  the  commander-in-chief. 

As  Ferguson  moved  toward  the  mountain 
country,  Colonel  Charles  McDowell  of  Burke 
County,  North  Carolina,  put  himself  in  com- 
munication with  Colonel  John  Sevier  of  Wash- 
ington County,  and  Colonel  Isaac  Shelby  of 
Sullivan  County.  Expresses  were  sent  out  along 
the  western  tier  of  settlements  for  help  and  nearly 
1,400  men  responded  to  the  call.  The  largest 
contingent  came  from  Washington  County,  Vir- 
ginia, under  Colonel  William  Campbell,  who  took 
the  general  command  in  the  engagement  that  fol- 
lowed. Campbell's  father  was  one  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  settlers  in  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  and 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  509 

William  was  born  there  in  1745.  In  1767  he 
settled  in  Washington  County,  where  he  became 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  a  militia  officer  and  a  lead- 
ing man  of  affairs.  He  married  a  sister  of 
Patrick  Henry. 

Learning  of  the  concentration  of  force  against 
him,  Ferguson  occupied  a  strong  position  on 
King's  Mountain.  He  had  over  eleven  hundred 
men  in  his  force,  in  part  regulars  and  in  part 
Loyalist  militia.  The  position  was  stormed  by 
the  Americans,  who  not  only  drove  the  British 
from  their  lines  but  also  cut  off  their  retreat. 
Ferguson  fought  with  conspicuous  gallantry,  re- 
peatedly leading  charges  upon  the  American 
lines,  but  his  men  fell  rapidly  under  the  deadly 
accuracy  of  the  frontiersmen's  fire,  and  at  last 
he  too  was  shot  dead.  This  disheartened  the 
defense,  and  the  officer  upon  whom  the  command 
devolved  raised  the  white  flag,  and  surrendered 
his  entire  force,  October  7,  1780. 

Colonel  Campbell  received  votes  of  thanks 
from  the  Virginia  Legislature  and  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  while  Washington  sent  him  a 
congratulatory  letter.  He  was  appointed  briga- 
dier-general but  while  in  the  service  he  contracted 
a  fever  of  which  he  died  in  1781. 

Colonel  Charles  McDowell  who  was  active  in 
the  arrangements  for  collecting  the  frontiersmen 
was  the  son  of  Joseph  McDowell,  an  Ulster  emi- 


510  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

grant  who  arrived  in  America  in  1730.  Charles 
McDowell  was  not  present  at  the  battle  of  King's 
Mountain.  When  the  frontier  militia  colonels 
came  together,  it  was  a  question  who  should  take 
command,  and  it  was  finally  settled  that  Mc- 
Dowell should  proceed  to  headquarters  and  have 
a  general  officer  detailed  to  take  over  the  com- 
mand which  meanwhile  should  be  held  by  Camp- 
bell. In  McDowell's  absence  the  militia  from 
Burke  and  Rutherford  Counties,  North  Caro- 
lina, were  led  by  his  brother,  Major  Joseph  Mc- 
Dowell. Another  brother,  William,  also  fought 
in  the  battle.  Joseph  McDowell  led  a  force  of 
his  Mountain  Men  at  the  battle  of  Cowpens,  Jan- 
uary 17,  1781.  In  1788  he  was  a  member  of  the 
North  Carolina  constitutional  convention  and  in 
1792  he  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress. 

King's  Mountain  and  Cowpens  were  fatal  to 
the  plans  of  the  British.  At  the  end  of  the  cam- 
paign they  held  no  part  of  the  Carolinas  except 
the  country  immediately  round  Charleston.  Ad- 
ditional British  troops  were  landed  in  Virginia, 
and  Cornwallis,  marching  from  the  Carolinas,  ef- 
fected a  junction  and  took  charge  of  the  entire 
force.  He  experienced  Burgoyne's  fate,  as  he 
had  to  surrender  with  his  whole  army  on  October 
19,  1781.  This  virtually  ended  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  When  the  news  reached  England 
there  was  a  change  of  Government  and  the  new 
Ministry  negotiated  liberal  terms  of  peace. 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  511 

Both  Bennington  and  King's  Mountain 
showed  that  the  British  thrust  was  stopped  when 
it  met  the  solid  resistance  of  the  Scotch-Irish 
settlements  along  the  frontier.  These  events 
marked  the  turning  point  of  the  British  campaign 
both  in  the  North  and  in  the  South.  Such  ex- 
ploits by  local  militia  do  not  become  intelligible 
until  one  considers  how  military  aptitude  was  in- 
stilled in  the  Scotch-Irish  by  Ulster  training  and 
American  experience. 

A  signal  example  of  this  aptitude  is  presented 
by  the  career  of  Henry  Knox.  Born  in  Boston, 
July  25,  1750,  of  County  Antrim  stock,  he  took 
an  ardent  interest  in  military  affairs  from  his 
boyhood.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  a  military  company  and  when  the  Boston 
Grenadier  Corps  was  organized  he  was  chosen 
second  in  command.  Meanwhile  he  was  engaged 
in  the  book  trade  and  he  became  proprietor  of  a 
shop  much  frequented  by  the  officers  of  the  Brit- 
ish garrison  and  also  by  ladies  of  literary  tastes. 
In  this  way  he  became  acquainted  with  Miss 
Lucy  Flucker.  His  marriage  with  her  on  June 
16,  1774,  made  a  stir  in  Boston  society,  as  her 
father,  Provincial  Secretary  under  Gage,  and 
a  high  Tory,  had  more  ambitious  plans  for  his 
daughter  and  was  opposed  to  the  match.  Most 
of  her  friends  thought  she  had  sacrificed  her  pros- 
pects in  life  and  they  were  confirmed  in  this  belief 


512  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

when  Knox  rejected  the  efforts  of  General  Gage 
to  attach  him  to  the  Loyalist  side.  His  vigorous 
personality,  together  with  his  active  interest  in 
military  affairs,  made  him  such  a  marked  man 
that  when  he  decided  to  to  go  to  the  American 
camp  he  had  to  slip  out  of  Boston  in  disguise. 
After  placing  his  wife  in  safe  quarters  at  Wor- 
cester he  joined  the  American  forces. 

At  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  Knox  acted  as  a 
staff  officer,  reconnoitring  the  British  move- 
ments. During  the  campaign  that  followed  he 
was  active  in  planning  and  constructing  works 
of  defense  for  the  various  positions  held  by  the 
Americans.  His  ability  as  a  military  engineer 
and  as  an  artillerist  attracted  attention  and 
obtained  General  Washington's  esteem.  On 
November  17,  1775,  although  Knox  was  only 
twenty-five  years  old,  he  was  commissioned  col- 
onel of  the  only  artillery  regiment  in  the  Conti- 
nental Army.  He  served  throughout  the  war 
with  distinction,  enjoying  the  steady  confidence 
and  friendship  of  Washington.  He  took  part  in 
all  the  important  engagements  down  to  the  siege 
of  Yorktown,  his  arrangements  for  which  were 
such  that  Washington  reported  to  the  President 
of  Congress  that  "the  resources  of  his  genius  sup- 
plied the  deficit  of  means." 

Knox  reached  the  grade  of  major-general  in 
1782,  and  in  1785  he  was  appointed  by  the  Con- 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  513 

tinental  Congress  to  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
War,  which  he  continued  to  hold  under  General 
Washington  after  the  national  Government  was 
organized  under  the  Constitution.  He  was  also 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the  two  portfolios  being 
then  united.  He  retained  office  until  the  close 
of  1794  when  he  withdrew  from  public  life,  retir- 
ing to  an  extensive  estate  in  Maine,  upon  which 
he  created  and  built  up  the  town  of  Thomaston. 
He  had  here  a  fine  library,  part  of  it  in  the 
French  language,  and  he  was  living  the  life  of 
a  hospitable  country  magnate  when  he  died  sud- 
denly in  his  fifty-seventh  year.  It  was  a  singular 
fate  for  a  man  who  had  escaped  the  perils  of  so 
many  battlefields,  for  he  choked  to  death  on  a 
chicken  bone. 

The  War  Department  also  owes  much  to  the 
administrative  genius  of  another  Scotch-Irish- 
man whose  career  presents  a  marked  example  of 
hereditary  faculty.  Among  the  early  emigrants 
from  Ulster  to  the  Cumberland  Valley,  Pennsyl- 
vania, was  John  Armstrong.  Some  time  before 
1748  he  settled  in  Carlisle  and  became  a  surveyor 
under  the  Proprietary  Government.  He  took  a 
leading  part  in  organizing  the  settlers  to  repel 
Indian  raids  and  was  commissioned  a  colonel  of 
militia.  He  was  also  a  justice  of  the  peace  and 
was  active  and  energetic  in  the  discharge  both  of 
his  military  and  of  his  civil  functions.    In  1755  he 


514  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

led  a  force  of  about  two  hundred  and  eighty 
frontiersmen  against  the  Indian  settlement  at 
Kittanning,  about  twenty  miles  northeast  of 
Fort  Duquesne.  Although  Colonel  Armstrong 
was  severely  wounded  in  the  engagement,  he  com- 
pletely routed  the  Indians  and  destroyed  their 
stronghold,  to  the  great  relief  of  the  frontier  set- 
tlements. In  1758  he  commanded  a  body  of 
troops  in  the  vanguard  of  the  army  with  which 
General  Forbes  retrieved  Braddock's  defeat  and 
captured  Fort  Duquesne.  During  this  campaign 
he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Washington 
which  ripened  into  lifelong  friendship.  He  was 
a  leader  in  the  protest  against  the  closing  of  the 
port  of  Boston  in  1774  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence  appointed  to  con- 
cert measures  of  joint  action  by  the  colonies. 
His  commission  as  brigadier-general  in  the  Con- 
tinental Army  bears  date  March  1,  1776,  and  in 
1777  he  appears  as  a  major-general  in  command 
of  the  Pennsylvania  troops  at  the  battle  of 
Brandywine.  In  that  year  he  left  the  regular 
army,  his  action  being  due  to  some  grievance,  but 
he  did  not  abandon  the  cause.  At  the  battle  of 
Germantown  he  commanded  the  Pennsylvania 
militia.  In  1778-1780,  and  also  in  1787-1788,  he 
was  a  member  of  Congress.  His  election  was 
warmly  recommended  by  General  Washington, 
who  recognized  the  value  of  having  one  of  his 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  515 

military  knowledge  in  the  governing  body.  He 
died  March  9,  1795,  aged  seventy-five  years. 

John  Armstrong,  Jr.,  born  at  Carlisle,  Novem- 
ber 25, 1758,  was  a  student  at  Princeton  when  the 
Revolutionary  War  broke  out,  and  he  left  his 
books  to  become  an  aide  on  the  staff  of  General 
Mercer.  When  Mercer  received  his  mortal 
wound  at  the  battle  of  Princeton  Armstrong 
bore  him  off  the  field.  After  the  death  of  Mer- 
cer Armstrong  joined  the  staff  of  General  Gates 
and  was  with  him  in  the  campaign  that  culmi- 
nated in  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga. 
In  1780,  when  he  was  only  twenty-two  years  old, 
he  was  made  adjutant-general  of  the  southern 
army,  but  owing  to  an  attack  of  illness  served 
only  a  short  time  in  that  position.  He  rejoined 
the  staff  of  General  Gates,  continuing  in  that 
capacity  until  the  end  of  the  war. 

Upon  the  close  of  the  war  Armstrong  entered 
public  life  in  which  he  rose  rapidly.  He  filled 
successively  the  offices  of  Secretary  and  ad- 
jutant-general of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1787  he 
was  elected  to  Congress.  In  1789  he  married  a 
sister  of  Chancellor  Livingston,  and  removed  to 
that  State.  Early  in  the  next  year  he  was  chosen 
United  States  Senator  from  New  York,  serving 
until  1804  when  he  entered  the  diplomatic  service. 
He  was  Minister  to  France  and  Spain  until  1810, 
when  he  returned  to  the  United  States.    When 


516  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

the  War  of  1812  began  he  was  appointed  briga- 
dier-general and  placed  in  command  of  the  dis- 
trict of  New  York.  In  March,  1813,  he  was 
called  to  the  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  War. 

Armstrong's  career  as  Secretary  of  War  ended 
in  apparent  failure.  The  blame  for  American 
defeats  was  laid  upon  him  and  the  British  in- 
vasion of  Washington  was  the  finishing  stroke, 
forcing  him  out  of  the  Cabinet  and  retiring  him 
to  private  life.  The  verdict  of  history  is  never- 
theless in  his  favor  as  disinterested  consideration 
of  the  case  shows  that  he  was  the  victim  of  cir- 
cumstances that  he  tried  to  remedy,  accomplish- 
ing results  of  permanent  value.  The  bane  of  the 
army  has  been  and  still  is  government  by 
Congressional  committees.  Armstrong  selected 
officers  for  their  merits,  disregarding  Congres- 
sional influence  to  an  extent  that  excited  a  malig- 
nant opposition  which  pursued  him  relentlessly 
until  it  compassed  his  downfall.  The  chief  au- 
thority for  this  period  of  our  national  existence 
is  Henry  Adams's  History  of  the  United  States. 
While  charging  Armstrong  with  defects  of 
temper  and  manners,  the  historian  says : 

"Whatever  were  Armstrong's  faults,  he 
was  the  strongest  Secretary  of  War  the 
Government  had  yet  seen.  Hampered  by 
an  inheritance  of  mistakes  not  easily  cor- 
rected, and  by  a  chief  [Madison]  whose 
methods  were  non-military  in  the  extreme, 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  517 

Armstrong  still  introduced  into  the  army  an 
energy  wholly  new.  .  .  .  The  energy  thus 
infused  by  Armstrong  into  the  regular  army 
lasted  for  half  a  century." 

The  confidence  with  which  he  inspired  the  army 
was  one  of  the  causes  of  his  downfall.  He  was 
charged  with  aiming  at  a  military  domination  of 
the  Government.  His  action  in  issuing  a  major- 
general's  commission  to  Andrew  Jackson  ag- 
grieved General  Harrison  and  his  friends  and 
was  at  the  time  regretted  by  President  Madison. 
The  opposition  to  Armstrong  became  so  strong 
that  Madison  dismissed  him  from  office.  He 
lived  for  nearly  thirty  years  afterward  but  he 
never  again  accepted  public  office.  He  published 
a  number  of  treatises  on  military  and  agricultural 
topics ;  and  he  prepared  a  military  history  of  the 
Revolution,  which  from  his  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  subject  would  doubtless  have  been  a  work 
of  great  value,  but  unfortunately  the  manu- 
script was  destroyed  by  fire. 

Andrew  Jackson,  the  recognition  of  whose 
military  genius  by  Armstrong  was  based  upon 
his  behavior  in  the  Creek  Indian  War,  splendidly 
vindicated  Armstrong's  judgment  by  his  conduct 
of  the  southern  campaign  and  his  brilliant  victory 
at  New  Orleans.  His  career  is  a  well  known  in- 
stance of  the  military  aptitude  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  strain  in  American  citizenship. 


518  THE  SCOTCH-IRISH  IN  AMERICA 

The  origin  of  all  the  officers  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary army  cannot  be  determined  with  sufficient 
accuracy  to  admit  of  any  statistical  exhibit,  but 
Scotch-Irish  of  Ulster  nativity  were  so  numerous 
that  a  provision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  drawn  so  as  to  meet  their  case.  When 
the  qualifications  for  membership  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  were  considered  in  the  con- 
vention it  was  in  question  whether  natives  only 
should  be  eligible  or  else  how  long  a  term  of 
citizenship  should  be  a  prerequisite.  In  the 
course  of  the  debate  Wilson  of  Pennsylvania  re- 
marked that  "almost  all  the  general  officers  of 
the  Pennsylvania  line  of  the  late  army  were 
foreigners,"  and  he  mentioned  that  three  mem- 
bers of  the  Pennsylvania  delegation  in  the  con- 
vention, he  himself  being  one,  were  not  natives. 
The  term  was  finally  fixed  at  seven  years,  which 
admitted  to  Congressional  eligibility  the  gener- 
ation that  participated  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
whether  native  born  or  not.  The  immigrants 
thus  provided  for  were  mainly  Scotch-Irish. 

In  the  formation  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  no  racial  or  denominational  in- 
fluence can  be  traced.  Such  claims  have  been 
made  but  they  belong  rather  to  political  mythol- 
ogy than  to  serious  history.  The  breach  in  the 
continuity  of  political  development  due  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  American  struggle  precipi- 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  NATION  519 

tated  the  States  into  constitution-making  with 
unsatisfactory  results.  The  character  of  the  new 
State  Governments  was  distrusted  and  their  be- 
havior viewed  with  dismay  by  the  statesmen  un- 
der whose  leadership  American  independence 
had  been  achieved.  Such  feelings  energized  the 
movement  for  a  strong  national  Government 
whose  outcome  was  the  Convention  of  1787  and 
the  framing  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  The  winding  and  shifting  of  individual 
activity  on  the  issues  arising  during  the  formative 
period  sustain  no  relation  to  racial  origins  or  to 
denominational  attachments,  but  cut  across  them 
with  entire  facility.  The  debates  of  the  Conven- 
tion show  that  the  accident  of  hailing  from  a 
small  State  or  a  large  State  had  more  to  do  with 
a  delegate's  course  than  any  other  consideration. 

The  Scotch-Irish  supplied  leaders  both  for  and 
against  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  The 
movement  for  liberalizing  the  Constitution,  ex- 
tending the  suffrage,  and  substituting  popular 
election  of  the  President  for  choice  by  the  Elec- 
toral College  derived  its  strongest  support  from 
the  Scotch-Irish  element  of  the  population,  and 
it  triumphed  in  the  national  Government  under 
the  leadership  of  Andrew  Jackson. 


CHAPTER  XX 

A  Survey  and  an  Appreciation 

From  time  to  time  objections  have  been  raised 
to  the  term  "Scotch-Irish."  In  his  Dutch  and 
Quaker  Colonies,  John  Fiske  says: 

"The  name  Scotch-Irish  is  an  awkward 
compound,  and  is  in  many  quarters  con- 
demned. Curiously  enough,  there  is  no  one 
who  seems  to  object  to  it  so  strongly  as  the 
Irish  Catholic.  While  his  feelings  toward 
the  'Far-Downer'  are  certainly  not  affec- 
tionate he  is  nevertheless  anxious  to  claim 
him  with  his  deeds  and  trophies,  as  simply 
Irish,  and  grudges  to  Scotland  the  claim  to 
any  share  in  producing  him.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted, however,  that  there  is  a  point  of  view 
from  which  the  Scotch-Irish  may  be  re- 
garded as  more  Scotch  than  Irish.  The 
difficulty  might  be  compromised  by  calling 
them  Ulstermen,  or  Ulster  Presbyterians." 

The  Century  Magazine  for  September,  1891, 
contained  an  article  by  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  on 
"The  Distribution  of  Ability  in  the  United 
States,"  in  which  he  classified  the  Scotch-Irish 
as  a  distinct  race-stock.  This  was  the  subject 
of  criticism,  in  replying  to  which  he  said : 

520 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  521 

"I  classified  the  Irish  and  the  Scotch-Irish 
as  two  distinct  race-stocks,  and  I  believe  the 
distinction  to  be  a  sound  one  historically  and 
scientifically.  .  .  .  The  Scotch-Irish  from 
the  North  of  Ireland,  Protestant  in  religion 
and  chiefly  Scotch  and  English  in  blood  and 
name,  came  to  this  country  in  large  numbers 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  while  the  people 
of  pure  Irish  stock  came  scarcely  at  all  dur- 
ing the  colonial  period,  and  did  not  immi- 
grate here  largely  until  the  present  century 
was  well  advanced." 

The  term  does  not  matter  so  much  as  the  thing 
signified.  That  there  is  a  particular  breed  of 
people  in  the  North  of  Ireland  introduced  there 
by  the  Ulster  Plantation,  is  indisputable.  In 
that  region  itself  the  term  Ulster  Scot  seems  to 
be  preferred  as  an  appellation.  The  people  there 
habitually  regarded  and  spoke  of  themselves  as 
belonging  to  the  Scottish  nation,  and  the  term 
appears  in  Ulster  documents.  The  term  Scotch- 
Irish  is  also  ancient,  being  the  designation  used  in 
the  Scottish  universities  for  the  students  resort- 
ing to  them  from  Ulster.  Their  Scottish  char- 
acter was  fully  recognized,  but  at  the  same  time 
they  were  not  of  Scotland,  so  the  Ulster  student 
was  registered  as  Scoto-Hibernus. 

When  Ulster  emigration  to  America  became 
noticeable  it  was  a  common  practice  in  the  colo- 
nies to  speak  of  the  arrivals  as  Irish.  As  they 
certainly   came    from    Ireland   the    designation 


522  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

could  not  be  wholly  disowned,  yet  the  arrivals 
strongly  objected  to  being  described  as  Irish. 
They  regarded  themselves  as  Scottish  people  who 
had  been  living  in  Ireland.  The  circumstances 
were  such  as  naturally  to  engender  the  term 
Scotch-Irish,  which  is  a  sufficiently  accurate  de- 
scription of  a  distinct  race-stock.  It  is  true  that 
the  Ulster  Plantation  was  designed  to  be  Eng- 
lish rather  than  Scotch,  but  for  reasons  set  forth 
in  preceding  chapters,  the  Plantation  became  a 
Scottish  settlement  into  which  the  English  in- 
gredient was  absorbed.  Ulster  emigration  to 
America  was  distinctly  Scotch-Irish  in  its  compo- 
sition. The  use  of  the  term  is  therefore  not  only 
justifiable  but  is  required  by  accuracy  of  state- 
ment. 

The  use  of  that  or  some  corresponding  term  is 
forced  upon  historians  because  it  is  impossible  to 
tell  the  story  of  the  American  nation  with  any 
completeness  without  considering  the  Scotch- 
Irish.  That  is  how  John  Fiske  came  to  make 
the  mention  already  cited.  He  was  speaking  of 
early  emigrants  from  Germany,  and  he  tells  how 
some  "pressed  onward  and  spread  along  the  Ap- 
palachian frontier."  In  pursuing  this  particular 
theme  the  truth  of  history  compels  him  to  bring 
in  the  Scotch-Irish,  although  rather  abruptly. 
He  remarks:  "Here  they  [the  Germans,  from 
the  Rhenish  Palatinate]  have  played  an  impor- 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  523 

tant  part,  usually  in  association  with  a  race  of 
men  of  still  more  vigorous  initiative,  the  so-called 
Scotch-Irish."  And  then  he  proceeds  to  give  a 
brief  account  of  the  Ulster  Plantation  and  Ulster 
emigration  to  the  colonies  as  an  essential  feature 
of  American  history.  Mr.  Fiske  computed  that 
"between  1730  and  1770  more  than  half  the  Pres- 
byterian population  of  Ulster  came  to  America, 
where  it  formed  more  than  one-sixth  part  of  our 
entire  population  at  the  time  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.*' 

Theodore  Roosevelt  experienced  the  same  ne- 
cessity of  considering  Scotch-Irish  influence,  in 
his  Winning  of  the  West.  The  leaders  in 
national  expansion  were  the  backwoods  moun- 
taineers. He  says  that  "the  dominant  strain  in 
their  blood  was  that  of  the  Presbyterian  Irish — 
the  Scotch-Irish  as  they  were  often  called."  He 
remarks  that  "it  is  doubtful  if  we  have  wholly 
realized  the  importance  of  the  part  played  by  that 
stern  and  virile  people,  the  Irish  whose  preachers 
taught  the  creed  of  Knox  and  Calvin";  and  he 
declares  that  "the  West  was  won  by  those  who 
have  been  rightly  called  the  Roundheads  of  the 
South,  the  same  men,  who,  before  any  others, 
declared  for  American  independence." 

The  fact  has  not  been  duly  observed  that  upon 
every  computation  of  numbers  Scotch-Irish  im- 
migration far  exceeded  all  other  Puritan  immi- 


524  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

gration.  The  Massachusetts  immigration  of 
Puritan  Independents  about  which  so  much  has 
been  written,  was  comparatively  small,  as  may- 
be seen  by  the  figures  of  the  colonial  historian 
Hutchinson,  given  in  Chapter  VI.  of  this  work. 
He  estimated  the  total  arrivals  at  21,200  men, 
women  and  children  up  to  1640  after  which  until 
Scotch-Irish  immigration  began  more  people  left 
New  England  than  arrived  there.  It  was  not 
until  after  the  extensive  infusion  of  Scotch-Irish 
blood  that  New  England  developed  traits  since 
regarded  as  characteristic.  This  fact  is  incident- 
ally displayed  by  the  considerations  which 
Charles  Francis  Adams  notes  in  his  Massachu- 
setts— Its  Historians  and  Its  History,  He 
points  out  that  the  intellectual  influence  and  lit- 
erary distinction  of  New  England  are  late 
developments.  That  section  was  once  character- 
ized by  such  mental  sterility  and  moral  insensibil- 
ity that  he  designates  the  years  from  1637  to 
1760  as  the  glacial  period.  Then  began  the  po- 
litical activity  that  made  Massachusetts  promi- 
nent in  the  Revolutionary  period;  but  the 
associations  of  literary  culture  now  attaching  to 
New  England  were  not  established  until  the  first 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Even  upon  such  a  restricted  view  of  history  as 
that  which  makes  it  simply  a  narrative  of  events 
the  Scotch-Irish  can  not  be  left  out.    When  his- 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  525 

tory  performs  its  proper  function  of  tracing  the 
causes  which  form  national  character  and  decide 
national  destiny,  the  Scotch-Irish  factor  becomes 
prominent.  Since  American  history  has  im- 
proved in  scientific  character  and  in  philosophic 
spirit,  it  is  noticeable  that  there  has  been  increas- 
ing recognition  of  the  importance  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  contribution  to  American  nationality. 
There  are  considerations,  some  of  which  will  now 
be  instanced,  that  indicate  that  this  recognition 
will  be  still  more  enlarged  in  the  future. 

As  the  events  of  the  Revolutionary  period  are 
reduced  to  scale,  the  more  disproportionate  they 
seem  in  relation  to  the  vast  results.  In  all  his- 
tory there  appears  to  be  no  parallel  instance  of 
the  founding  of  a  great  nation  as  an  incident  of 
controversies  over  constitutional  principles.  In- 
surrection and  revolt  were  nothing  new  in  the 
experience  of  England,  but  whatever  the  particu- 
lar conclusion,  the  national  sovereignty  emerged 
stronger  than  before.  It  was  very  difficult  for 
English  statesmen  to  admit  the  idea  that  Ameri- 
can independence  was  an  actual  possibility,  and 
even  after  the  fact  was  formally  recognized  the 
notion  was  long  held  that  it  would  surely  be 
transient.  The  American  cause  was  throughout 
most  of  the  Revolutionary  period  in  a  precarious 
state.  There  were  sharp  divisions  of  sentiment 
among  the  people,  and  the  Government  of  the 


526  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN   AMERICA 

improvised  confederation  was  never  able  to  com- 
mand even  the  limited  resources  within  its  juris- 
diction, or  to  act  with  steady  vigor.  The  more 
one  studies  the  details  of  the  struggle  the  more 
remarkable  appears  the  successful  issue.  It 
seemed  little  less  than  a  miracle  to  Washington 
himself,  when  he  calmly  reviewed  it  in  later  days. 
The  affair  remains  a  mystery  until  the  effect  of 
the  Ulster  migration  is  considered.  Here  is  a 
factor,  whose  extent  and  activity  puts  it  fore- 
most in  any  scientific  study  of  cause  and  effect. 
If,  as  Mr.  Fiske  computes,  the  Scotch-Irish 
population  must  have  amounted  to  one-sixth  of 
the  entire  population  at  the  time  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  and  remembering  that 
they  were  all  hot  for  independence  while  every- 
where else  there  were  streaks  of  cold  or  luke- 
warm feeling,  there  can  be  hardly  any  question 
as  to  where  lay  the  decisive  influence. 

In  the  opinion  of  Lecky,  who  is  with  justice 
regarded  as  the  most  impartial  historian  of  this 
period,  the  issue  of  the  Revolutionary  War  once 
rested  upon  the  action  of  the  Pennsylvania  line, 
whose  "privates  and  non-commissioned  officers 
consisted  chiefly  of  immigrants  from  the  North 
of  Ireland."  Lecky  remarks,  "no  troops  in  that 
army  had  shown  themselves  more  courageous, 
more  patient,  and  more  devoted."  But  their  pay 
was  a  whole  year  in  arrears ;  they  were  left  nearly 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  527 

naked  and  destitute  of  provisions;  their  com- 
plaints had  not  received  attention,  and  early  in 
1781  they  rebelled.  Although  some  officers  were 
killed  or  wounded  in  attempting  to  suppress  the 
mutiny,  the  force  stuck  together  and  acted  as* a 
disciplined  body.  They  left  camp  at  Morris- 
town,  about  1,300  strong,  with  their  muskets 
and  six  field-pieces;  and  marched  to  Princeton, 
apparently  with  the  intention  of  proceeding 
to  Philadelphia.  The  situation  caused  great 
alarm.  Lecky  remarks  that  "in  the  weak  condi- 
tion of  the  American  forces  such  a  body,  if 
it  had  gone  over  to  the  English,  might  have 
turned  the  fortunes  of  the  war."  The  English 
commanders  had  hopes  that  this  might  be  ac- 
complished, and  there  was  much  to  encourage 
them  for  many  deserters  from  the  American 
army  had  already  gone  over  to  the  British  camp. 
But  the  Scotch-Irish  were  not  of  that  sort.  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  sent  confidential  messengers  with 
offers  of  amnesty  and  payment  of  all  arrears  due 
them,  leaving  it  entirely  to  them  whether  they 
would  render  military  service  or  be  discharged. 
The  offers  were  rejected,  the  emissaries  were  ar- 
rested and  sent  to  the  American  camp  to  be  dealt 
with  as  spies.  The  mutineers  kept  together  as  a 
disciplined  body,  committed  no  depredations  and 
proclaimed  their  loyalty  to  the  American  cause 
and  their  readiness  to  resume  service  as  soon  as 


528  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

their  grievances  were  redressed.  The  affair  was 
finally  settled  by  a  partial  satisfaction  of  their 
just  demands.  Congress  was  delighted  at  get- 
ting out  of  so  serious  a  difficulty,  and  a  purse  of 
one  hundred  guineas  was  made  up  for  those  who 
had  delivered  up  the  British  emissaries.  But  the 
men  who  had  gone  to  such  extreme  lengths  to 
force  the  payment  of  what  was  due  them,  now  re- 
fused to  accept  the  present  of  money,  saying  that 
they  had  only  done  their  duty.  The  whole  affair 
was  characteristically  Scotch-Irish. 

The  logic  of  the  American  controversy  has  not 
worn  well,  and  at  present  deeper  reasons  are 
sought  for  the  conflict  than  those  assigned  at 
the  time.  It  is  now  regarded  as  having  its  source 
in  the  fact  that  the  colonies  had  outgrown  their 
tutelage,  and  that  a  nationality  was  developing, 
which,  to  get  its  breath  and  live  its  life,  had  to 
burst  its  bonds.  The  manifestation  of  this  in- 
cipient nationality  was  a  sudden  phenomenon, 
and  it  corresponds  to  the  great  increase  of 
American  population  through  Ulster  emigration. 
Prior  to  that  the  colonies  had  been  separated 
by  intense  antipathies.  Now  a  marked  unifying 
and  nationalizing  influence  makes  its  appearance, 
together  with  an  energetic  movement  toward 
territorial  expansion.  Prior  to  the  Ulster  emi- 
gration the  population  of  the  colonies  had  been 
stagnant  and,  in  New  England  especially,  even 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  529 

tended  to  decline.  The  Scotch-Irish  immigra- 
tion changed  that  and  set  in  motion  forces  of 
national  expansion  whose  attainments  soon  ex- 
ceeded the  bounds  that  colonial  imagination  dared 
to  think  possible.  So  late  as  1775  the  poetic 
fancy  of  Philip  Freneau  was  satisfied  with  this 
modest  anticipation: 

The  time  shall  come  when  strangers  rule  no  more, 
Nor  cruel  mandates  vex  from  Britain's  shore; 
When  commerce  shall  extend  her  shortened  wing, 
And  her  rich  freights  from  every  climate  bring; 
When  mighty  towns  shall  flourish  free  and  great, — 
Vast  their  dominions,  opulent  their  state; 
When  one  vast  cultivated  region  teems 
From  ocean's  side  to  Mississippi's  streams. 

American  settlements  extended  beyond  the 
Mississippi  in  the  poet's  own  lifetime.  Freneau 
died  in  1832.  Missouri  was  admitted  as  a  State 
in  1821.  This  rapidity  of  national  expansion 
beyond  all  early  expectation  is  a  direct  conse- 
quence of  Scotch-Irish  immigration,  and  is  un- 
accountable until  that  factor  is  considered. 

This  national  expansion  was  accompanied  by 
an  industrial  development  quite  as  remarkable 
for  the  rapidity  of  its  process.  An  economic 
transformation  took  place  in  which  Scotch-Irish 
immigration  was  an  influential  factor.  It  has 
been  noted  that  the  development  of  manufactures 
in  the  first  distinctively  Scotch-Irish  settlements 
in  America,  was  so  great  as  to  excite  the  anxious 


530  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN   AMERICA 

concern  of  English  officials  in  Maryland.  When 
Ulster  immigration  poured  into  New  England 
the  culture  of  the  potato,  practically  unknown 
there  before,  was  introduced.  Spinning  and 
weaving  were  widely  diffused  by  the  same  agency. 
In  the  three  years  prior  to  1774,  the  number  of 
Ulster  weavers  who  had  emigrated  to  America 
was  officially  computed  in  England  to  be  not 
less  than  ten  thousand.  The  rapid  rise  of  manu- 
factures in  the  first  part  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury was  a  development  prepared  mainly  through 
Scotch-Irish  influence.  New  England,  the  domi- 
nant interest  in  which  had  been  navigation,  ex- 
perienced an  industrial  revolution.  Important 
developments  took  place  wherever  the  Scotch- 
Irish  settled.  The  invention  of  the  reaper,  which 
has  created  a  vast  American  industry  and  has 
worked  a  revolution  in  agricultural  conditions, 
was  an  incident  of  Scotch-Irish  occupation  of  the 
Valley  of  Virginia.  Cyrus  McCormick  made  his 
great  invention  by  improving  a  mechanism  origi- 
nally devised  by  his  father  as  a  labor-saving  con- 
trivance in  the  work  on  his  Rockbridge  County 
farm. 

The  industrial  history  of  Pennsylvania  is  a 
wonderful  record  of  Scotch-Irish  achievement. 
Conditions  there  were  such  as  to  give  special 
stimulus  to  the  racial  capacity  and  at  the  same 
time  to  provide  rich  material  for  its  exercise. 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  531 

The  particular  history  of  each  of  the  leading 
industries  of  that  great  State  is  crowded  with 
Scotch-Irish  names.  The  movement  to  the  in- 
terior characteristic  of  Scotch-Irish  immigration 
developed  an  interest  in  agencies  of  transporta- 
tion, which  was  strongly  manifested  in  the  im- 
provement of  water-ways  even  before  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  One  of  the  early  commissioners 
appointed  to  remove  obstructions  to  river  traffic 
was  Colonel  Ephraim  Blaine,  grandfather  of 
James  G.  Blaine.  When  the  steam-engine  was 
invented  the  importance  of  applying  it  to  navi- 
gation was  strongly  impressed  by  the  extent  of 
river  traffic.  Robert  Fulton,  who  successfully 
accomplished  this  with  the  aid  of  Chancellor 
Livingston,  was  born  in  Lancaster  County, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1765,  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry. 
The  building  of  canals  and  railways,  was  power- 
fully stimulated  by  needs  created  through  Scotch- 
Irish  settlement  of  the  Western  country,  and 
Scotch-Irish  names  figure  abundantly  in  such 
enterprises.  The  list  of  the  chief  officers  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  from  its  inception  to  the 
present  day  presents  very  much  the  character  of 
a  Scotch-Irish  dynasty. 

The  influence  of  Scotch-Irish  immigration  in 
establishing  and  propagating  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  is  generally 
recognized.    But  its  influence  upon  American  re- 


532  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN   AMERICA 

ligious  life  is  of  far  wider  scope.  Almost  from 
the  time  Scotch-Irish  immigration  began,  the 
old  identification  of  Ulster  Scot  and  Ulster  Pres- 
byterian began  to  fail.  For  reasons  heretofore 
presented  in  this  work  there  was  a  large  leakage 
from  Presbyterianism  to  Congregationalism  in 
New  England,  which  section  was,  and  still  is, 
stony  ground  for  Presbyterianism.  At  the 
same  time  Congregationalism  has  not  shown 
proportionate  gains.  But  even  out  of  New  Eng- 
land the  strength  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is 
far  from  being  commensurate  with  the  strength 
of  the  Scotch-Irish  element  of  the  population 
and  its  diffusion  throughout  the  United  States. 
The  case  recalls  the  old  fable  of  the  traveler 
and  his  cloak,  which  he  held  tight  during  the 
storm  but  laid  aside  when  the  sun  came  out. 
The  Scotch-Irish  strain  has  participated  in  the 
religious  variation  that  has  been  so  marked  in 
the  United  States.  The  Puritan  movement  origi- 
nally aimed  at  reformation,  not  sectarianism. 
The  actual  consequences  involve  multiplication 
of  agency  with  dissipation  of  energy  quite  op- 
posed to  the  original  intention.  The  final  judg- 
ment of  history  upon  the  value  of  that  movement 
will  depend  largely  upon  the  solution  of 
the  problems  raised  by  existing  ecclesiastical 
conditions. 

Early    in    our    national    history    interest    in 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  533 

popular  education  became  noted  as  a  distinctive 
American  characteristic.  School  facilities  for  the 
masses  of  the  people  certainly  did  not  figure  in 
the  institutional  equipment  inherited  by  America 
from  England,  in  which  respect  the  latter  has 
not  been  a  leader  among  nations.  In  this  field 
the  effect  of  Scotch-Irish  immigration  has  been 
distinct  and  indubitable.  The  high  rank  speedily 
attained  by  the  United  States  for  literacy  of 
citizenship  must  be  ascribed  to  that  stream  of 
influence.  There  was  no  more  familiar  figure  in 
American  society  in  the  formative  period  than 
the  Scotch-Irish  schoolmaster.  Everywhere  one 
hears  of  him  in  the  early  records. 

In  tracing  this  particular  influence  to  its  origi- 
nal source  one  must  turn  not  only  to  Ulster  but 
beyond  it  to  Scotland.  To  this  day  the  Ameri- 
can school  system  has  a  Scottish  stamp,  and 
American  Universities  have  still  a  closer  resem- 
blance to  the  Scotch  than  to  the  English.  Ex- 
actly why  it  was  that  Scotland  originally 
developed  its  peculiar  zeal  for  popular  education 
is  not  quite  clear.  While  the  Reformation  had 
much  to  do  with  it,  that  crisis  did  not  originate 
it.  Three  great  Scottish  universities  were 
founded  before  the  Reformation.  In  the  fif- 
teenth century  interest  in  popular  education 
was  as  distinctively  characteristic  of  Scotland 
as  interest  in  art  was  of  Italy.     The  heredi- 


534  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN   AMERICA 

tary  jurisdiction  then  exercised  in  Scotland  by 
the  landlord  class  was  doubtless  one  source  of 
this  interest.  This  is  indicated  by  the  remarkable 
law  enacted  in  1496  by  the  Scotch  Parliament 
requiring  all  persons  and  freeholders  of  sub- 
stance, under  pain  of  a  heavy  fine,  to  send  their 
eldest  sons  to  school  until  they  had  obtained  a 
competent  knowledge  of  Latin  and  sufficient 
familiarity  with  jurisprudence  to  distribute  jus- 
tice among  their  people.  The  statesmen  of  the 
Reformation  built  upon  the  existing  educational 
foundations  and  enlarged  their  scope.  In  1560 
John  Knox  proposed  an  elaborate  system  of 
national  education.  A  system  of  parochial 
schools,  imitated  from  Geneva,  was  established 
during  the  seventeenth  century.  The  system  was 
accompanied  by  arrangements  for  special  aid  to 
deserving  students  which,  according  to  Lecky, 
"brought  the  advantage  of  University  education 
within  the  range  of  classes  wholly  excluded  from 
it  in  England."  Although  the  material  welfare 
of  the  people  was  "considerably  below  the  aver- 
age standard  in  England,  the  level  of  intelligence 
among  them  was  distinctly  higher,  the  propor- 
tion of  national  faculties  called  into  active  exer- 
cise was  distinctly  greater  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  empire."  This  judgment  of  the 
English  historian  necessarily  includes  Ulster, 
since  both  ecclesiastically  and  educationally  that 
was  a  Scottish  annex. 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  535 

The  foregoing  pages  contain  numerous  par- 
ticulars showing  the  educational  intimacy  of  Ul- 
ster and  Scotland.  A  striking  evidence  of  the 
general  literacy  of  the  people  of  Ulster  is  sup- 
plied by  the  petition  to  Governor  Shute  in  1717 
signed  by  322  persons,  nearly  all  of  the  signa- 
tures being  in  fair  autograph.  Only  eleven  of 
the  signers  had  to  make  their  marks.  Nowhere 
in  England  at  that  time  would  so  little  illiteracy 
have  been  found  in  so  large  a  body  of  poor  people 
planning  to  emigrate  to  better  their  condition. 
And  wherever  the  Scotch-Irish  went  the  estab- 
lishment of  schools  was  one  of  their  first  cares. 
As  has  been  pointed  out,  education  was  a  neces- 
sary incident  of  their  ecclesiastical  system,  and 
concern  for  education  was  a  deeply  implanted 
race  instinct,  abundantly  manifested  in  their  his- 
tory. To  the  activity  of  that  characteristic  the 
remarkably  prompt  and  rapid  spread  of  popular 
education  throughout  America  is  to  be  mainly 
attributed. 

Generally  in  new  settlements  professional  vo- 
cation does  not  set  in  until  after  the  community 
is  well  rooted.  The  first  call  is  for  the  artificer, 
and  this  class  of  employment  usually  absorbs  the 
energies  of  the  first  generation.  But  among  the 
Scotch-Irish  the  aptitude  for  scholarship  was  so 
strong  that  almost  from  the  first  this  stream  of 
immigration  brought  recruits  to  all  the  learned 


536  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH    IN   AMERICA 

professions.  John  Rutledge  who  arrived  in 
South  Carolina  about  1735,  became  a  practicing 
physician  in  Charleston.  Two  sons  were  distin- 
guished lawyers,  one  becoming  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  the  other  a  mem- 
ber of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1787  and 
eventually  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  James  McHenry,  after  whom 
the  fort  was  named  whose  bombardment  in- 
spired the  Star  Spangled  Banner,  was  surgeon 
to  the  Fifth  Pennsylvania  battalion  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  He  was  a  delegate  from  Mary- 
land to  the  constitutional  convention  of  1787  and 
was  Secretary  of  War  during  Washington's  sec- 
ond term,  continuing  under  Adams.  The  Breck- 
inridge family  of  Kentucky,  which  has  produced 
numerous  clergymen,  military  officers,  lawyers 
and  statesmen,  is  derived  from  Alexander  Breck- 
inridge who  emigrated  from  Ulster  to  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1728  and  a  few  years  later  settled  in 
Augusta  County,  Virginia. 

In  preceding  chapters  numerous  particulars 
have  been  given  showing  the  influence  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  schools  in  recruiting  the  Presby- 
terian ministry  with  men  of  sound  scholarship. 
The  effect  upon  the  legal  profession  was  almost 
as  strongly  marked.  This  profession  became 
strong  and  influential  in  the  colonies  at  an  early 
date.    Recruits  to  it  were  numerous  from  all  the 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  53T 

Scotch-Irish  settlements.  The  importance  of 
this  element  has  been  specially  marked  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  in  the  settlement  of  the  West.  John 
Bannister  Gibson,  born  at  Carlisle,  November  8, 
1780,  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania  from  1827 
to  1851,  is  regarded  by  students  of  jurisprudence 
as  one  of  the  greatest  jurists  America  has  pro- 
duced. The  rapidity  with  which  legal  and  po- 
litical institutions,  in  advance  of  provision  by 
central  authority,  were  erected  in  the  interior  of 
the  national  domain,  is  an  extraordinary  occur- 
rence that  is  hardly  intelligible  until  one  con- 
siders the  character  of  the  Scotch-Irish  immi- 
gration that  was  the  dominating  influence  in  the 
westward  movement  of  population.  So  many 
Scotch-Irish  lawyers  were  prominent  in  public 
affairs  in  the  formative  period  of  the  West  that 
any  attempt  to  give  particulars  would  transcend 
the  bounds  of  a  general  history.1 

With  the  growth  of  the  nation  and  the  blend- 
ing of  its  elements  complications  of  heredity  in- 
crease and  the  race  dominant  in  particular  cases 
may  be  brought  into  question.  The  Scotch-Irish 
in  America  have  never  organized  on  racial  lines. 

xThe  report  of  the  Pennsylvania  Scotch-Irish  Society  for  1898 
contains  a  paper  by  the  Hon.  John  B.  McPherson  of  Dauphin 
County,  now  a  member  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  of  Ap- 
peals for  the  Third  Circuit,  giving  particulars  of  the  strength  of 
the  Scotch-Irish  element  in  the  Pennsylvania  judiciary.  An 
address  by  Governor  James  E.  Campbell  of  Ohio,  contained  in 
the  report  of  the  Scotch-Irish  Congress  of  1890,  gives  many  par- 
ticulars of  the  prominent  part  taken  by  the  Scotch-Irish  in  or- 
ganizing and  developing  the  Western  States, 


538  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN   AMERICA 

Their  social  and  political  activities  have  mixed 
freely  and  spread  freely  through  the  general 
mass  of  American  citizenship.  Hence  when  one 
turns  frorii  the  collective  aspect  of  the  case  to 
genealogical  particulars  one  enters  a  region  of 
controversy.  An  instance  is  supplied  by  the  va- 
rious classifications  made  of  the  racial  origins  of 
Presidents  of  the  United  States.  Whitelaw 
Reid's  examination  of  the  subject  is  carefully 
done.  According  to  it  Andrew  Jackson,  James 
K.  Polk,  James  Buchanan,  Andrew  Johnson, 
Chester  A.  Arthur  and  William  McKinley  are 
of  Ulster  ancestry.  General  Grant  has  Scotch 
ancestry  on  his  father's  side,  Scotch-Irish  on  his 
mother's  side.  Benjamin  Harrison,  Grover 
Cleveland  and  Theodore  Roosevelt  have  Scotch- 
Irish  ancestry  on  the  mother's  side.  The  pater- 
nal ancestry  of  James  Munroe  and  Rutherford 
B.  Hayes  goes  to  Scotland  direct.  Since  Mr. 
Reid's  book  was  published,  the  Presidency  has 
been  attained  by  Woodrow  Wilson,  whose  pre- 
sumably authorized  biography  in  Who's  Who 
states  that  he  is  Scotch-Irish  on  both  sides.  Mr. 
Reid  gives  a  long  roll  of  distinguished  Americans 
of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.2 

2  A  great  mass  of  information  is  contained  in  the  published  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Scotch-Irish  Society  of  America,  organized  in 
1889,  under  the  presidency  of  Robert  Bonner  of  New  York.  Its 
first  congress  was  held  at  Columbia,  Tennessee,  in  May,  of  that 
year.  Subsequently  congresses  were  held  at  Pittsburgh,  Louisville, 
Atlanta,  Springfield,  Ohio,  Des  Moines,  Lexington,  Va.,  Har- 
risburg,    Knoxville,    and    Chambersburg,    Pa.      Ten    volumes    of 


A  SURVEY  AND  AN  APPRECIATION  539 

Whatever  questions  be  raised  as  to  the  con- 
trolling heredity  in  particular  cases  there  can  be 
no  question  that  there  is  a  distinct  Scotch-Irish 
type  of  frame  and  physiognomy.  It  is  well 
known  and  easily  recognized.  The  long  chin 
gives  a  characteristic  square  effect  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  face.  One  may  notice  it  in  the  pic- 
tures of  Woodrow  Wilson  as  in  the  pictures  of 
Andrew  Jackson.  And  the  race  character  is  as 
persistent  as  the  physical  type.  Professor  Her- 
on's description  of  the  distinguishing  character- 
istics of  the  Ulster  Scots  is  applicable  also  to  their 
kinsmen,  the  Scotch-Irish  in  America: 

"An  economy  and  even  parsimony  of 
words,  which  does  not  always  betoken  a  pov- 
erty of  ideas;  an  insuperable  dislike  to  wear 
his  heart  upon  his  sleeve,  or  make  a  display 
of  the  deeper  and  more  tender  feelings  of  his 
nature ;  a  quiet  and  undemonstrative  deport- 
ment which  may  have  great  firmness  and  de- 
termination behind  it ;  a  dour  exterior  which 
may  cover  a  really  genial  disposition  and 
kindly  heart;  much  caution,  wariness  and 
reserve,  but  a  decision,  energy  of  character, 
and  tenacity  of  purpose,  which,  as  in  the  case 
of  Enoch  Arden,  'hold  his  will  and  bear  it 
through';  a  very  decided  practical  faculty 
which  has  an  eye  on  the  main  chance,  but 

proceedings  were  issued  by  this  Society,  making  an  expressive  ex- 
hibit of  the  achievements  of  the  Ulster  breed  in  America. 

The  only  Scotch-Irish  Society  known  now  to  exist  is  the  Penn- 
sylvania Scotch-Irish  Society,  which  was  organized  in  the  fall  of 
1889  as  a  branch  of  the  National  Society.  It  holds  annual 
meetings,  the  transactions  of  which  are  published  in  a  series  of 
reports  containing  much  information  on  Scotch-Irish  history. 


540  THE   SCOTCH-IRISH   IN  AMERICA 

which  may  co-exist  with  a  deep-lying  fund 
of  sentiment;  a  capacity  for  hard  work  and 
close  application  to  business,  which,  with 
thrift  and  patient  persistence,  is  apt  to  bear 
fruit  in  considerable  success;  in  short,  a  re- 
serve of  strength,  self-reliance,  courage  and 
endurance,  which,  when  an  emergency  de- 
mands (as  behind  the  Walls  of  Derry) ,  may 
surprise  the  world." 

The  activity  and  influence  of  that  race  have  a 
securely  established  importance  among  the  fac- 
tors of  American  history. 


APPENDIX  A 

IRELAND  AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE  PLANTATION 

Documents  illustrative  of  the  condition  of  Ireland  at 
the  time  of  the  Ulster  Plantation  will  be  found  in  a  volume 
of  the  Carisbrooke  Library  published  by  George  Routledge 
&  Sons,  London  and  New  York,  entitled  Ireland  under 
Elisabeth  and  James"  edited  by  Professor  Henry  Morley 
of  University  College,  London.  Accounts  by  Edmund 
Spenser,  Sir  John  Davies  and  Fynes  Moryson  are  included. 
MorysOn,  born  in  Lincolnshire  in  1566,  obtained  a  fellow- 
ship at  Cambridge  University.  In  1589  he  obtained  leave 
of  absence  for  travel  until  July,  1600.  He  spent  ten  years 
in  foreign  travel  and  his  account  of  his  observations  has 
been  republished  in  recent  years  under  the  title  of  Shake- 
speare's Europe.  In  1600  he  went  to  Ireland,  where  his 
brother  was  Vice-President  of  Munster.  Moryson  was  a 
plodding,  unimaginative  writer,  and  his  works  now  possess 
no  interest  save  as  records  of  fact  in  which  respect  they 
have  great  documentary  value.  The  following  is  extracted 
from  his  account  of  Ireland: 

"The  fields  are  not  only  most  apt  to  feed  cattle,  but  yield 
also  great  increase  of  corn.  I  will  freely  say  that  I  ob- 
served the  winter's  cold  to  be  far  more  mild  than  it  is  in 
England,  so  as  the  Irish  pastures  are  more  green,  and  so 
likewise  the  gardens  all  winter-time,  but  that  in  summer, 
by  reason  of  the  cloudy  air  and  watery  soil,  the  heat  of 
the  sun  hath  not  such  power  to  ripen  corn  and  fruits,  so  as 
their  harvest  is  much  later  than  in  England.  Also  I  ob- 
served that  the  best  sorts  of  flowers  and  fruits  are  much 

541 


542  APPENDIX  A 

rarer  in  Ireland  than  in  England,  which  notwithstanding  is 
more  to  be  attributed  to  the  inhabitants  than  to  the  air;  for 
Ireland  being  often  troubled  with  rebellions,  and  the  rebels 
not  only  being  idle  themselves,  but  in  natural  malice  de- 
stroying the  labors  of  other  men,  and  cutting  up  the  very 
trees  or  fruit  for  the  same  cause  or  else  to  burn  them,  for 
these  reasons  the  inhabitants  take  less  pleasure  to  till  the 
ground  or  plant  trees,  content  to  live  for  the  day,  in  con- 
tinual fear  of  like  mischiefs.  Yet  is  not  Ireland  altogether 
destitute  of  these  flowers  and  fruits,  wherewith  the  County 
of  Kilkenny  seems  to  abound  more  than  any  other  part. 
And  the  said  humidity  of  the  air  and  land  making  the 
fruits  for  food  more  raw  and  moist,  hereupon  the  inhabi- 
tants and  strangers  are  troubled  with  looseness  of  the  body, 
the  country  disease.  Yet  for  the  rawness  they  have  an 
excellent  remedy  by  their  Aqua  Vitae,  vulgarly  called 
Usquebaugh,  which  binds  the  belly  and  drieth  up  moisture 
more  than  our  Aqua  Vitae,  yet  inflameth  not  so  much.  Also 
inhabitants  as  well  as  strangers  are  troubled  there  with  an 
ague  which  they  call  the  Irish  ague,  and  they  who  are  sick 
thereof,  upon  a  received  custom,  do  not  use  the  help  of  the 
physician,  but  give  themselves  to  the  keeping  of  Irish 
women,  who  starve  the  ague,  giving  the  sick  man  no  meat, 
who  takes  nothing  but  milk  and  some  vulgarly  known  reme- 
dies at  their  hand. 

"Ireland  after  much  blood  spilt  in  the  civil  wars  became 
less  populous,  and  as  well  great  lords  of  countries  as  other 
inferior  gentlemen  laboured  more  to  get  new  possessions  for 
inheritance  than  by  husbandry  and  by  peopling  of  their 
old  lands  to  increase  their  revenues;  so  as  I  then  observed 
much  grass,  therewith  the  island  so  much  abounds,  to  have 
perished  without  use,  and  either  to  have  rotted  or  in  the 
next  springtime  to  be  burnt,  less  it  hinder  the  coming  of 
new  grass.  This  plenty  of  grass  makes  the  Irish  have  in- 
finite multitudes  of  cattle,  and  in  the  heat  of  the  last  rebel- 
lion the  very  vagabond  rebels  had  great  multitudes  of  cows, 


APPENDIX  A  543 

which  they  still,  like  the  nomades,  drove  with  them  whither- 
soever themselves  were  driven,  and  fought  for  them  as  for 
their  altars  and  families.  By  this  abundance  of  cattle  the 
Irish  have  a  frequent  though  somewhat  poor  traffic  for  their 
hides,  the  cattle  being  in  general  very  little,  and  only  the 
men  and  greyhounds  of  great  stature.  Neither  can  the 
cattle  possibly  be  great,  since  they  eat  only  by  day,  and 
then  are  brought  at  evening  within  the  bawns  of  castles, 
where  they  stand  or  lie  all  night  in  a  dirty  yard  without 
so  much  as  a  lock  of  hay;  whereof  they  make  little,  for 
sluggishness,  and  that  little  they  altogether  keep  for  their 
horses.  And  they  are  thus  brought  in  by  nights  for  fear 
of  thieves,  the  Irish  using  almost  no  other  kind  of  theft,  or 
else  for  fear  of  wolves,  the  destruction  thereof  being  ne- 
glected by  the  inhabitants,  oppressed  with  greater  mis- 
chiefs, they  are  so  much  grown  in  number  as  sometimes  in 
winter  nights  they  will  come  to  prey  in  villages  and  the 
suburbs  of  cities.  .  .  . 

"In  cities  passengers  may  have  feather  beds,  soft  and 
good,  but  most  commonly  lousy,  especially  in  the  highways, 
whether  they  came  by  their  being  forced  to  lodge  common 
soldiers  or  from  the  nasty  filthiness  of  the  nation  in  gen- 
eral. For  even  in  the  best  city,  as  at  Cork,  I  have  ob- 
served that  my  own  and  other  Englishmen's  chambers, 
hired  of  the  citizens,  were  scarce  swept  once  in  the  week, 
and  the  dust  then  laid  in  a  corner,  was  perhaps  cast  out 
once  in  a  month  or  two.  I  did  never  see  any  public  inns 
with  signs  hanged  out,  among  the  English  or  English-Irish ; 
but  the  officers  of  cities  and  villages  appoint  lodgings  to  the 
passengers,  and  perhaps  in  each  city  they  shall  find  one  or 
two  houses  where  they  will  dress  meat,  and  these  be  com- 
monly houses  of  Englishmen,  seldom  of  the  Irish,  so  these 
houses  having  no  signs  hung  out,  a  passenger  cannot  chal- 
lenge right  to  be  entertained  in  them,  but  must  have  it  of 
courtesy  and  by  entreaty. 

"The  wild  and   (as  I  may  say)   mere  Irish,  inhabiting 


544  APPENDIX  A 

many  and  large  provinces,  are  barbarous  and  most  filthy 
in  their  diet.  They  scum  the  seething  pot  with  an  handful 
of  straw,  and  strain  their  milk  taken  from  the  cow  with  a 
like  handful  of  straw,  none  of  the  cleanest,  and  so  cleanse, 
or  rather  more  defile,  the  pot  and  milk.  They  devour  great 
morsels  of  beef  unsalted,  and  they  eat  commonly  swine's 
flesh,  seldom  mutton,  and  all  these  pieces  of  flesh,  as  also 
the  entrails  of  beasts  unwashed,  they  seethe  in  a  hollow 
tree,  lapped  in  a  raw  cow's  hide,  and  so  set  over  the  fire, 
and  therewith  swallow  whole  lumps  of  filthy  butter.  Yea 
(which  is  more  contrary  to  nature)  they  will  feed  on  horses 
dying  of  themselves,  not  only  on  small  want  of  flesh,  but 
even  for  pleasure;  for  I  remember  an  accident  in  the 
army,  when  the  Lord  Mount  joy,  the  Lord  Deputy,  riding 
to  take  the  air  out  of  the  camp,  found  the  buttocks  of 
dead  horses  cut  off,  and  suspecting  that  some  soldiers  had 
eaten  that  flesh  out  of  necessity,  being  defrauded  of  the 
victuals  allowed  them,  commanded  the  men  to  be  searched 
out,  among  them  a  common  soldier,  and  that  of  the  English- 
Irish,  not  of  the  mere  Irish,  being  brought  to  the  Lord 
Deputy,  and  asked  why  he  had  eaten  the  flesh  of  dead 
horses,  thus  freely  answered,  "Your  Lordship  may  please 
to  eat  pheasant  and  partridge,  and  much  good  do  it  you 
that  best  likes  your  taste;  and  I  hope  it  is  lawful  for  me 
without  offence  to  eat  this  flesh,  that  likes  me  better  than 
beef."  Whereupon  the  Lord  Deputy,  perceiving  himself 
to  be  deceived,  and  further  understanding  that  he  had  re- 
ceived his  ordinary  victuals  (the  detaining  whereof  he 
suspected,  and  purposed  to  punish  for  example),  gave  the 
soldier  a  piece  of  gold  to  drink  in  usquebaugh  for  better 
digestion,  and  so  dismissed  him. 

"The  foresaid  wild  Irish  do  not  thresh  their  oats,  but 
burn  them  from  the  straw,  and  so  make  cakes  thereof;  yet 
they  seldom  eat  this  bread,  much  less  any  better  kind, 
especially  in  the  time  of  war.  Whereof  a  Bohemian  baron 
complained  who,  having  seen  the  Courts  of  England  and 


APPENDIX  A  54>5 

Scotland,  would  needs,  out  of  his  curiosity,  return  through 
Ireland  in  the  heat  of  the  rebellion;  and  having  letters 
from  the  King  of  the  Scots  to  the  Irish  lords  then  in  rebel- 
lion, first  landed  among  them  in  the  furthest  north,  where 
in  eight  days'  space  he  found  no  bread,  not  so  much  as  a 
cake  of  oats,  till  he  came  to  eat  with  the  Earl  of  Tyrone; 
and  after  obtaining  the  Lord  Deputy's  pass  to  come  into 
our  army,  related  this  their  want  of  bread,  to  us  as  a  mir- 
acle, who  nothing  wondered  thereat.  Yea,  the  wild  Irish 
in  time  of  greatest  peace  impute  covetousness  and  base 
birth  to  him  that  hath  any  corn  after  Christmas,  as  if  it 
were  a  point  of  nobility  to  consume  all  within  those  festival 
days.  They  willingly  eat  the  herb  Shamrock,  being  of  a 
sharp  taste,  which,  as  they  run  and  are  chased  to  and 
fro,  they  snatch  like  beasts  out  of  the  ditches. 

"Neither  have  they  any  beer  made  of  malt  or  hops,  nor 
yet  any  ale,  no,  nor  the  chief  lords,  except  it  be  very 
rarely.  But  they  drink  milk  like  nectar,  warmed  with  a 
stone  first  cast  into  the  fire,  or  else  beef  broth  mingled 
with  milk.  But  when  they  come  to  any  market  town,  to 
sell  a  cow  or  horse,  they  never  return  home  till  they  have 
drunk  the  price  in  Spanish  wine  (which  they  call  the  King 
of  Spain's  daughter)  or  in  Irish  usquebaugh,  and  till  they 
have  outslept  two  or  three  days'  drunkenness.  And  not 
only  the  common  sort,  but  even  the  lords  and  their  wives, 
the  more  they  want  this  drink  at  home  the  more  they 
swallow  it  when  they  come  to  it,  till  they  be  as  drunk  as 
beggars. 

"Many  of  these  wild  Irish  eat  no  flesh  but  that  which 
dies  of  disease  or  otherwise  of  itself,  neither  can  it  scape 
them  for  stinking.  They  desire  no  broth,  nor  have  any 
use  for  a  spoon.  They  can  neither  seethe  artichokes  nor 
eat  them  when  they  are  sodden.  It  is  strange  and  ridicu- 
lous, but  most  true,  that  some  of  our  carriage  horses  fall- 
ing into  their  hands,  when  they  found  soap  and  starch 
carried  for  the  use  of  laundresses,  they,  thinking  them  to 


546  APPENDIX  A 

be  some  dainty  meats,  did  eat  them  greedily,  and  when 
they  stuck  in  their  teeth  cursed  heartily  the  gluttony  of  us 
English  churls,  for  so  they  term  us.  They  feed  most  on 
white  meats,  and  esteem  for  a  great  dainty  sour  curds, 
vulgarly  called  by  them  Bonaclabbe.  And  for  this  cause 
they  watchfully  keep  their  cows,  and  fight  for  them  as  for 
religion  and  life;  and  when  they  are  almost  starved,  yet 
will  they  not  kill  a  cow  except  it  be  old  and  yield  no  milk. 
Yet  will  they  upon  hunger,  in  time  of  war,  open  a  vein  of 
the  cow  and  drink  the  blood,  but  in  no  case  kill  or  much 
weaken  it.  A  man  would  think  these  men  to  be  Scythians, 
who  let  their  horses  blood  under  their  ears  and  for  nourish- 
ment drink  their  blood;  and  indeed,  as  I  have  formerly 
said,  some  of  the  Irish  are  of  the  race  of  Scythians,  coming 
into  Spain  and  from  thence  into  Ireland.  The  wild  Irish, 
as  I  said,  seldom  kill  a  cow  to  eat,  and  if  perhaps  they  kill 
one  for  that  purpose,  they  distribute  it  all  to  be  devoured 
at  one  time;  for  they  approve  not  the  orderly  eating  at 
meals,  but  so  they  may  eat  enough  when  they  are  hungry, 
they  care  not  to  fast  long.  .  .  . 

"These  wild  Irish  never  set  any  candles  upon  tables — 
what  do  I  speak  of  tables  ?  since  indeed  they  have  no  tables, 
but  set  their  meat  upon  a  bundle  of  grass,  and  use  the 
same  grass  as  napkins  to  wipe  their  hands.     But  I  mean 
that  they  do  not  set  candles  upon  any  high  place  to  give 
light  to  the  house,  but  place  a  great  candle  made  of  reeds 
and  butter  upon  the  floor  in  the  midst  of  a  great  room. 
And  in  like  sort  the  chief  men  in  their  houses  make  a  great 
fire,  in  the  midst  of  the  room,  the  smoke  whereof  goeth  out 
at  a  hole  in  the  top  thereof.     An  Italian  friar  coming  of 
old  into  Ireland  and  seeing  at  Armagh  this  their  diet  and 
the  nakedness  of  the  women,  is  said  to  have  cried  out: 
"Civitas   Armachana,   civitas   vana, 
Carries  crudae,  mulieres  nudae." 
"Vain  Armagh  city,  I  thee  pity, 

Thy  meat's  rawness  and  women's  nakedness." 


APPENDIX  A  547 

"I  trust  no  man  expects  among  these  gallants  any  beds, 
much  less  feather  beds  and  sheets,  who,  like  the  Nomades 
removing  their  dwellings  according  to  the  commodity  of 
pastures  for  their  cows,  sleep  under  the  canopy  of  heaven, 
or  in  a  poor  house  of  clay,  or  in  a  cabin  made  of  the  boughs 
of  trees  and  covered  with  turf,  for  such  are  the  dwellings 
of  the  very  lords  among  them.  And  in  such  places  they 
make  a  lire  in  the  midst  of  the  room,  and  round  about  it 
they  sleep  upon  the  ground,  without  straw  or  other  thing 
under  them,  lying  in  a  circle  about  the  fire,  with  their  feet 
towards  it.  And  their  bodies  being  naked,  they  cover  their 
heads  and  upper  parts  with  their  mantles,  which  they  first 
make  very  wet,  steeping  them  in  water  of  purpose ;  for  they 
find  that  when  their  bodies  have  warmed  the  wet  mantles, 
the  smoke  of  them  keeps  their  bodies  in  temperate  heat  all 
the  night  following.  And  this  manner  of  lodging  not  only 
the  mere  Irish  lords  and  their  followers  use,  but  even  some 
of  the  English-Irish  lords  and  their  followers  when,  after 
the  old  but  tyrannical  and  prohibited  manner  vulgarly 
called  coshering,  they  go,  as  it  were  on  progress,  to  live 
upon  their  tenants  till  they  have  consumed  all  the  victuals 
that  the  poor  men  have  or  can  get." 


APPENDIX  B 

THE  SCOTTISH  UNDERTAKERS 

The  first  list  of  Scottish  applicants  for  Ulster  allotments 

was  completed  by  September  14,  1609.     The  following  is 

the  list  as  given  in  volume  VIII  of  the  official  edition  of 

the  Register  of  the  Privy  Council  of  Scotland: 

Adamson,  James,  brother  of  Mr.  William  Adamson  of  Gray- 
crook  [Craigcrook]  :  surety,  Andrew  Heriot  of  Ravels- 
ton:  2,000  acres. 

Aitchison,  Harry,  in  Edinburgh:  surety,  Mr.  James  Cun- 
ningham of  Mountgrennan :  2,000  acres. 

Alexander,  Robert,  son  of  Christopher  Alexander,  bur- 
gess of  Stirling:  surety,  his  said  father:  1,000  acres. 

Anderson,  James,  portioner  of  Little  Govan:  surety,  John 
Allison  in  Carsbrig:  1,000  acres. 

Anderson,  John,  burgess  of  Edinburgh:  surety,  Thomas 
Anderson,  burgess  there. 

Bellenden,  John,  son  of  the  late  Justice-Clerk  Sir  Lewis 
Bellenden:  surety,  Sir  George  Livingstone  of  Ogilface: 
2,000  acres. 

Bellenden,  William,  also  son  of  the  late  Sir  Lewis  Bel- 
lenden: surety,  Mr.  John  Hart,  younger,  in  the  Canon- 
gate:  2,000  acres. 

Borthwick,  David,  chamberlain  of  Newbattle:  surety, 
George  Thorbrand,  burgess  of  Edinburgh:  2,000  acres. 

Brown,  John,  in  Gorgie  Mill:  surety,  Harry  Aikman,  in 
Brumehouse:  2,000  acres. 

Carmichael,  David,  son  of  James  Carmichael  of  Potti- 
shaw:  surety,  Mr.  John  Ross,  burgess  of  Glasgow: 
1,000  acres. 

548 


APPENDIX  B  549 

Colquhoun,  Mr.  Malcolm,  burgess  of  Glasgow:  surety, 
Alexander  Colquhoun  of  Luss:  2,000  acres. 

Coutts,  Robert,  of  Corswoods:  surety,  John  Coutts,  skin- 
ner, burgess  of  Edinburgh:  1,000  acres. 

Cranstoun,  Nathaniel,  son  of  Mr.  Michael  Cranstoun, 
minister  of  Cramond:  surety,  Robert  Wardlaw  in  Edin- 
burgh: 1,500  acres. 

Crawford,  Daniel,  goldsmith  in  Edinburgh:  surety, 
George  Crawford  goldsmith  there:  1,000  acres. 

Crawford,  David,  son  of  Andrew  Crawford  of  Bedlair: 
surety,  Robert  Montgomery  of  Kirktown:  2,000  acres. 

Crawford,  James,  goldsmith,  burgess  of  Edinburgh :  surety, 
Archibald  Hamilton  of  Bairfute:  2,000  acres. 

Crawford,  Robert,  of  Possil:  surety,  John  Montgomery  of 
Cokilbie:  2,000  acres. 

Crichton,  Abraham,  brother  of  Thomas  Crichton  of  Brun- 
stone:  surety,  said  Crichton  of  Brunstone:  2,000  acres. 

Crichton,  Thomas,  of  Brunstone:  surety,  Mr.  James  Cun- 
ningham of  Mountgrennan :  2,000  acres. 

Cunningham,  Alexander,  of  Powton:  surety,  George 
Murray  of  Broughton:  2,000  acres. 

Cunningham,  John,  of  Raws:  surety,  James  Guidlet  in 
Strabrock:  2,000  acres. 

Dalyrymple,  James,  brother  of  Dalyrymple  of  Stair: 
surety,  George  Crawford,  younger  of  Auchincorse:  2,000 
acres. 

Douglas,  George,  of  Shiell:  surety,  Douglas  of  Pumpher- 
ston:  2,000  acres. 

Douglas,  James,  of  Clappertoun:  surety,  George  Douglas 
of  Shiell:  1,000  acres. 

Douglas,  William,  son  of  Joseph  Douglas  of  Pumpher- 
ston:  surety,  his  said  father:  2,000  acres. 

Dunbar,  Alexander,  of  Egirness:  surety,  George  Murray 
of  Broughton:  2,000  acres. 

Dunbar,  John,  of  Avach,  surety,  David  Lindsay,  Keeper 
of  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh:  2,000  acres. 


550  APPENDIX  B 

Finlayson,  Mr.  John,  heir  apparent  of  Killeith:  surety, 
John  Dunbar  of  Avach:  2,000  acres. 

Forres,  John,  in  Dirleton:  surety,  Walter  Ker  of  Cockle- 
mill:  2,000  acres. 

Forster,  William,  in  Leith:  surety,  John  Forster  in  Edin- 
burgh: 1,000  acres. 

Fowler,  William,  merchant-burgess  in  Edinburgh:  surety, 
James  Inglis,  skinner,  burgess  of  Edinburgh:  2,000  acres. 

Guidlet,  James,  in  Strabrock:  surety,  John  Cunningham  of 
Raws:  2,000  acres. 

Hamilton,  Claud,  of  Creichness :  surety,  Archibald  Hamil- 
ton of  Bairfute:  2,000  acres. 

Hamilton,  George,  of  East  Binnie:  surety,  Mr.  Edward 
Marshall,  clerk  of  commissary  of  Edinburgh:  2,000  acres. 

Hamilton,  Robert,  of  Stanshouse:  2,000  acres. 

Hamilton,  Robert,  son  of  the  late  Gilbert  Hamilton: 
surety,  Gavin  Hamilton  of  Raploch:  2,000  acres. 

Hepburn,  Alexander,  of  Bangla:  surety,  Sir  Robert  Hep- 
burn of  Alderstoun:  2,000  acres. 

Home,  Robert,  of  Blackhills:  surety,  Mr.  John  Home  of 
Swansheill:  2,000  acres. 

Inglis,  Thomas,  younger  of  Auldliston:  surety,  James, 
Lord  Torphichen:  1,000  acres. 

Irving,  Robert,  at  the  mill  of  Cowie:  surety,  Edward 
Johnston,  younger,  merchant  in  Edinburgh:  2,000  acres. 

Johnstone,  John,  bailie  of  Water  of  Leith:  surety,  Daniel 
Coutts  in  Dairy  Mill:  2,000  acres. 

Ker,  Walter,  of  Cocklemill:  surety,  John  Forres  in  Dirle- 
ton: 1,500  acres. 

Lauder,  Alexander,  son  of  William  Lauder  of  Bellhaven: 
surety,  his  said  father:  2,000  acres. 

Lindsay,  Mr.  Jerome,  in  Leith:  surety,  David  Lindsay, 
keeper  of  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh:  2,000  acres. 

Lindsay,  Mr.  Robert,  in  Leith:  surety,  George  Smailholm 
in  Leith:  2,000  acres. 

Livingston,  Sir  George,  of  Ogilface:  surety,  John  Craw- 
ford of  Bearcrofts:  2,000  acres. 


APPENDIX  B  551 

Lockhart,  Stephen,  of  Wicketshaw:  surety,  Thomas  Weir 
of  Kirktoun:   2,000  acres. 

McClellan,  Herbert,  of  Grogrie:  surety,  George  Murray 
of  Broughton:  2,000  acres. 

McCulloch,  James,  of  Drummorell:  surety,  George  Mur- 
ray of  Broughton:  2,000  acres. 

McGill,  M.  Samuel,  burgess  of  Glasgow:  surety,  Robert 
Gray,  brother  of  Patrick,  Lord  Gray:  2,000  acres. 

Mac  Walter,  Parlane,  of  Auchinvennell :  surety,  Alex- 
ander Colquhoun  of  Luss:  2,000  acres. 

Marjoribanks,  Thomas,  son  of  Thomas  Marjoribanks  of 
Ratho:  surety,  John  Marjoribanks,  apparent  of  Ratho: 
2,000  acres. 

Meldrum,  John,  brother  of  the  Laird  of  Seggie:  surety, 
Ramsay  of  Balmonth:  2,000  acres. 

Melville,  James,  son  of  John  Melville  of  Raith:  surety, 
James  Melville  of  Fodinche:  2,000  acres. 

Montgomery,  Robert,  of  Kirktown:  surety,  Robert  Craw- 
ford of  Possill:  2,000  acres. 

Mowbray,  William,  son  of  John  Mowbray  of  Groftangry: 
surety,  his  said  father:  2,000  acres. 

Mure,  James,  portioner  of  Both-Kenner:  surety,  Cuthbert 
Cunningham,  provost  of  Dumbarton:  2,000  acres. 

Murray,  George,  of  Broughton:  surety,  Alexander  Dunbar 
of  Egirness:  2,000  acres. 

Orrock,  Captain  David:  surety,  Lord  Ochiltree:  2,000 
acres. 

Pont,  Mr.  Timothy,  minister:  surety,  Alexander  Borth- 
wick  of  Nether  Laich:  2,000  acres. 

Purves,  Thomas,  in  Bald:  surety,  John  Purves*,  cordiner 
in  Edinburgh:  1,000  acres. 

Ramsay,  Alexander,  brother  of  Thomas  Ramsay  of  Bal- 
month: surety,  Meldrum  of  Seggie:  2,000  acres. 

Ross,  Mr.  John,  burgess  of  Glasgow:  surety,  James  Car- 
michael  of  Pottishaw:  1,500  acres. 

Smailholm,  George,  in  Laith:  surety,  Mr.  Robert  Lind- 
say in  Leith:  2,000  acres. 


552  APPENDIX  B 

Stewart,  Harry,  of  Barskimming:  surety,  Lord  Ochiltree: 

2,000  acres. 
Stewart,  James,  of  Rossyth:  surety,  William  Stewart  of 

Dunduff:  2,000  acres. 
Stewart,  Robert,  uncle  of  Lord  Ochiltree:  surety,  said 

Lord  Ochiltree:  2,000  acres. 
Stewart,  Robert,  of  Robertoun:  surety,  William  Stewart 

of  Dunduff:  2,000  acres. 
Stewart,  Robert,  in  Edinburgh:  surety,  William  Stewart 

of  Dunduff:  2,000  acres. 
Stewart,  William,  of  Dunduff:  surety,  Lord  Ochiltree: 

2,000  acres. 
Tarbet,    James,    servitor    to    the    Earl    of    Dumfermline: 

surety,    Thomas    Inglis,    younger    of    Auldliston:    1,000 

acres. 
Thorbrand,  Alexander,  son  of  George  Thorbrand,  bur- 
gess of  Edinburgh:  surety,  his  said  father:  1,500  acres. 
Watson,  Mr.  James,  portioner  of  Sauchton:  surety,  John 

Watson,  portioner  of  Sauchton:  2,000  acres. 
Watson,    John,    portioner    of    Sauchton:    surety,    James 

Crawford,  goldsmith,  burgess  of  Edinburgh:  2,000  acres. 
Weir,  Thomas,  of  Kirktoun:  surety,  Stephen  Lockhart  of 

Wicketshaw:  2,000  acres. 
Wilkie,  John,  burgess  of  Edinburgh:  surety,  James  Mur- 
ray, burgess  there:  2,000  acres. 
Wood,  Andrew,  brother  of  John  Wood  of  Galstoun :  surety, 

his  said  brother:  2,000  acres. 


THE  SECOND  LIST 
The  Scottish  Undertakers  who  were  actually  granted  al- 
lotments in  Ulster  were  those  on  the  list  made  up  in  1610 
by  the  King  and  his  English  Privy  Council  sitting  in  Lon- 
don. The  following  schedule  is  taken  from  Vol.  IX  of  the 
Register  of  the  Privy  Council  of  Scotland: 

Undertakers  for  3,000  Acres  Each 
Ludovic  Stewart,  Duke  of  Lennox  (in  Donegal  County). 


APPENDIX  B  553 

James  Hamilton,  Earl  of  Abercorn  (in  County  Tyrone). 

Esme  Stewart,  Lord  D'Aubigny,  brother  of  the  Duke  of 
Lennox  (in  County  Cavan). 

Michael   Balfour,  Lord  of  Burley    (in  County  Ferma- 
nagh). 

Andrew  Stewart,  Lord  Ochiltree  (in  County  Tyrone). 
Undertakers  for  2,000  Acres  Each 

John  Clapen  (in  County  Tyrone). 

Sir    James    Cunningham,    of    Glengarnock    (in    County 
Donegal). 

Sir  James  Douglas  (in  County  Armagh). 

Sir  Alexander  Hamilton  (in  County  Cavan). 

Sir  Claud  Hamilton  (in  County  Tyrone). 

Sir  John  Home  (in  County  Fermanagh). 

Sir  Robert  MacLellan,  of  Bomby  (in  County  Donegal). 
Undertakers  for  1,500  Acres  Each 

Balfour,  Younger  of  Montquhany  (in  County 

Fermanagh). 

Sir  Thomas  Boyd  (in  County  Tyrone). 

William  Fowler  (in  County  Fermanagh). 

James  Haig  (in  County  Tyrone). 

Robert  Hamilton   (in  County  Fermanagh). 

Sir  Robert  Hepburn,  late  Lieutenant  of  the  King's  Guard 
in  Scotland  (in  County  Tyrone). 

George  Murray,  of  Broughton  (in  County  Donegal). 

William   Stewart,   brother   of  Lord   Garlies    (in   County 
Donegal). 

Sir  John  Wishart  of  Pitarro  (in  County  Fermanagh). 
Undertakers  for  1,000  Acres  Each 

Henry  Aitchinson   (in  County  Armagh). 

Alexander  Auchmutie  (in  County  Cavan). 

John  Auchmutie  (in  County  Cavan). 

William  Baillie  (in  County  Cavan). 

John  Brown   (in  County  Cavan). 

Crawford,  of  Liefnoreis  (in  County  Tyrone). 

John  Craig  (in  County  Armagh). 


554  APPENDIX  B 

Alexander  Cunningham,  of  Powton  (in  County  Donegal). 
Cuthbert  Cunningham  (in  County  Donegal). 
James  Cunningham  (in  County  Donegal). 
John  Cunningham,  of  Granfield  (in  County  Donegal). 
Sir  John  Drummond,  of  Bordland  (in  County  Tyrone). 
Alexander  Dunbar  (in  County  Donegal). 
John  Dunbar   (in  County  Fermanagh). 
William  Dunbar  (in  County  Cavan). 
James  Gibb  (in  County  Fermanagh). 
Sir  Claud  Hamilton  (in  County  Cavan). 
Claud  Hamilton  (in  County  Armagh). 
George  Hamilton   (in  County  Tyrone). 
Alexander  Hume  (in  County  Fermanagh). 
William  Lauder  (in  County  Armagh). 
Barnard  Lindsay  (in  County  Tyrone). 
John  Lindsay  (in  County  Fermanagh). 
Robert  Lindsay  (in  County  Tyrone). 
Alexander  Macaulay,  of  Durling  (in  County  Donegal). 
James  MacCulloch  (in  County  Donegal). 
Sir  Patrick  M'Kie  (in  County  Donegal). 
Moneypenny,  of  Kinkell  (in  County  Ferma- 
nagh). 
John  Ralston   (in  County  Cavan). 
George  Smailholm  (in  County  Fermanagh). 
John  Stewart  (in  County  Donegal). 
Robert  Stewart,  of  Haltoun  (in  County  Tyrone). 
Robert  Stewart  of  Robertoun  (in  County  Tyrone). 
Sir  Walter  Stewart,  of  Minto  (in  County  Donegal). 
William  Stewart,  of  Dunduff  (in  County  Donegal). 
James  Trail  (in  County  Fermanagh). 
Patrick  Vaus  (in  County  Donegal). 


APPENDIX  C 

THE  MAKING  OF  THE  ULSTER  SCOT 

By  the  Rev.  Professor  James  Heron,  D.D.,  of 
The  Assembly's  College,  Belfast,  Ireland 
As  to  the  parts  of  Scotland  from  which  the  Ulster  set- 
tlers came  there  is  no  controversy,  and  they  may  be 
indicated  in  a  sentence  or  two.  As  we  gather  from  such 
records  as  the  Hamilton  and  Montgomery  MSS.,  Hill's  ac- 
count of  the  Plantation,  the  State  Calendars,  Commis- 
sioners' Reports  in  the  "Carew  MSS.,"  Pynnar's  "Survey," 
and  other  contemporary  documents,  the  districts  of  Scotland 
which  supplied  the  Ulster  colonists  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury may  be  grouped  conveniently  under  three  heads — 
namely : 

Whence  They  Came 

(1)  Galloway  and  the  Scottish  counties  included  in  the 
ancient  kingdom  of  Strathclyde — Dumbartonshire,  Ayr- 
shire, Renfrewshire,  Lanarkshire,  and  Dumfriesshire; 

(2)  The  counties  around  Edinburgh — Edinburghshire, 
Haddingtonshire,  and  Berwickshire;  and 

(3)  The  district  lying  between  Aberdeen  and  Inverness, 
corresponding  to  the  ancient  province  of  Moray. 

It  should  be  noted  here,  however,  that  a  certain  portion 
of  Scotland  was  expressly  excluded  from  the  privilege  (if  it 
was  a  privilege)  of  sharing  in  the  Ulster  Plantation.  It 
was  made  a  necessary  condition  that  the  colonists,  both  of 
the  higher  and  lower  ranks,  must  have  been  "born  in  Eng- 
land or  the  inward  parts  of  Scotland."  This  restric- 
tion of  authorised  Scottish  settlers  to  those  born  in  "the 
inward  parts"   of  the  country  was   evidently  designed  to 

555 


556  APPENDIX  C 

exclude  Argyllshire  and  the  Isles;  that  is  to  say,  the  Scot- 
tish Dalriada,  the  parts  of  Scotland  inhabited  by  Celts 
from  Ireland.  It  was  manifestly  for  the  express  purpose 
of  excluding  them  that  the  restriction  referred  to  was  made. 
They  were  not  the  sort  of  people  that  were  wanted. 

Now,  let  us  trace  the  history  of  the  several  regions 
named,  note  the  successive  races  by  whom  they  were  oc- 
cupied, the  numerous  invasions,  the  incessant  conflicts,  the 
devastations  and  colonisations  they  passed  through,  and 
the  probable  outcome  as  regards  the  blood,  race,  and  moral 
quality  of  the  residue.  A  superficial  view  on  a  perfunctory 
survey  of  the  history  might  be  quite  misleading.  As  the 
history  reaches  back  far  so  as  to  touch  even  prehistoric 
tracts  of  time,  and  as  the  events  and  movements  to  be  ob- 
served, even  within  the  historic  period,  are  often  involved 
and  complex,  and  extend  over  more  than  a  thousand  years, 
both  patient  study  and  a  fair  share  of  trained  insight  and 
of  the  historic  imagination  are  requisite  to  realise  those 
movements  in  their  operation  and  outcome.  In  the  present 
brief  statement  of  the  case  I  can  only  attempt  to  place 
before  you  the  elementary  facts  of  a  somewhat  difficult 
problem,  and  thus  put  you  in  a  position  to  judge  for  your- 
selves. And  for  obvious  reasons  I  have  though  it  better,  as 
far  as  possible,  to  state  the  facts  in  the  words  of  recognised 
historians  rather  than  in  my  own. 
The  Picts 

As  a  necessary  preliminary,  however,  to  our  consideration 
of  the  districts  I  have  named,  some  notice  must  be  taken 
of  the  Picts,  who  held  almost  the  whole  of  the  country  we 
now  call  Scotland  when  it  begins  to  emerge  into  the  light 
of  history.  A  keen  controversy  as  to  the  racial  connection 
of  the  Picts,  in  which  the  Scottish  historians,  Pinkerton  and 
Chalmers,  toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  were 
the  chief  protagonists,  raged  for  many  years,  Pinkerton 
maintaining  that  they  were  Teutons,  and  his  opponent 
arguing  with  equal  vigour  that  they  were  Celts.    Sir  Walter 


APPENDIX  C  557 

Scott,  in  his  tale  of  the  "Antiquary,"  has  a  most  amusing 
skit  on  that  controversy.  At  the  dinner-table  of  Monkbarns 
a  sharp  debate  arises  between  the  Antiquary  and  Sir  Arthur 
Wardour  on  this  very  question,  who  were  the  Picts?  Mr. 
Oldbuck  asserts  with  Pinkerton  that  they  were  Goths,  while 
Sir  Arthur  asseverates  quite  as  strenuously  with  Chalmers 
that  they  were  Celts.  The  discussion,  like  many  a  similar 
one,  gets  more  heated  as  it  proceeds,  till  at  length  the 
combatants  lose  their  temper,  and  Sir  Arthur  rises  from  the 
table  in  high  dudgeon  and  "flounces  out  of  the  parlour." 
Dr.  Hill  Burton,  in  his  "History  of  Scotland,"  describes  the 
controversy  between  Pinkerton  and  Chalmers  as  quite  in- 
conclusive. In  fact,  the  verdict  of  the  latest  and  best 
modern  experts  is  that  both  were  wrong,  and  that  the  Picts 
were  neither  Celts  nor  Teutons !  Dr.  Skene,  writing  more 
than  a  generation  ago,  held  that  they  were  Celts;  but  I 
suppose  the  highest  living  authority  on  the  subject  is  Sir 
John  Rhys,  Principal  of  Jesus  College,  Oxford,  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Celtic  in  Oxford  University,  and  Sir  John  Rhys, 
led  by  philological,  ethnological,  and  topographical  con- 
siderations, affirms  that  "the  most  tenable  hypothesis  may 
be  said  to  be  that  the  'Picts'  were  non-Aryan,  whom  the 
first  Celtic  migrations  found  already  settled"  in  the  coun- 
try. "The  natural  conclusion  is,"  he  says,  "that  the  Picts 
were  here  before  the  Aryans  came;  that  they  were  in  fact 
the  aborigines."  He  adds  that  "it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  the  theory  of  the  non-Aryan  origin  of  the  Pictish 
language  holds  the  field  at  present"  ("The  Welsh  People," 
pp.  13-16).  The  judgment  of  the  late  eminent  Professor 
of  Celtic  Philology  in  the  University  of  Berlin,  Professor 
Zimmer,  coincides  with  that  of  Rhys.  His  opinion  is  that 
"Pict"  was  the  Roman  translation  of  the  name  given  to  the 
aborigines  by  the  British  and  Irish  Celts.  And  I  see  that 
Dr.  Macewen,  in  the  volume  of  his  "History  of  the  Church 
in  Scotland,"  which  has  just  appeared — a  work  of  very 
careful  research  and  scholarship — adopts  this  view.     Note, 


558  APPENDIX  C 

then,  that,  according  to  such  distinguished  experts  as  Sir 
John  Rhys  and  Professor  Zimmer,  of  Berlin,  the  original 
inhabitants  of  the  greater  part  of  North  Britain,  including 
the  aborigines  of  Galloway  and  of  the  North  of  Scotland 
from  the  Firth  of  Forth  to  the  Pentland  Firth,  and  by  the 
Romans  called  "Picts,"  were  not  Celts. 

I.  We  turn  now,  then,  to  the  first  of  the  three  groups 
of  districts  I  have  named  as  having  supplied  a  very  large 
number  of  Ulster  colonists — namely,  Galloway  and  the 
Northern  portion  of  the  ancient  British  kingdom  of 
Strathclyde,  which  included  the  modern  counties  of  Dum- 
bartonshire, Renfrewshire,  Lanarkshire,  Ayrshire,  and 
Dumfriesshire. 

Galloway 

(1)  As  to  Galloway,  the  remarks  just  made  with  regard 
to  the  Pictish  aborigines  have  to  be  kept  in  mind.  Even  in 
the  time  of  Bede  we  find  here  a  people  called  by  him 
"Niduari  Picts,"  and  at  a  still  later  time  known  as  "Gallo- 
way Picts."*  According  to  Sir  John  Rhys  they  were  neither 
Goidelic  nor  Brythonic  Celts,  but  non-Aryan  aborigines, 
who  had  been  subdued  by  the  Celts,  and  had  adopted  the 
language  of  their  Celtic  invaders.  When  they  were  sub- 
jugated by  a  Celtic  people,  and  became  in  a  measure  Celti- 
cised,  is  quite  uncertain.  In  Strathclyde  also,  embracing 
the  counties  I  have  mentioned,  there  appears  to  have  been 
a  considerable  substratum  of  Pictish  aborigines.  But  over- 
lying them,  and  constituting  the  dominant  element  in  the 
population,  were  the  Britons,  or  Brythonic  Celts,  who 
formed  the  British  kingdom  of  Strathclyde.  They  were  in 
close  kinship  with  the  Welsh.  That,  then,  is  the  first  thing 
to  be  noted  with  regard  to  this  region — that  prior  to  the 
coming  of  the  Romans,  and  later,  Galloway  is  chiefly  popu- 
lated by  Pictish  aborigines,  and  Strathclyde  by  Britons, 
who  were  Brythonic  Celts,  akin  to  the  Welsh. 

*See  Life  of  St.  Cuthbert,  chap.  XI,  sec.  18.  The  designation 
"Niduari"  appears  to  be  derived  from  the  river  Nith,  which 
bounded  Galloway  on  the  east. 


APPENDIX  C  559 

(2)  The  second  fact  to  which  I  have  to  direct  your  notice 
is  the  invasion  of  North  Britain  by  the  Romans.  The  Ro- 
man occupation  began  in  the  year  80  of  our  era,  con- 
tinued till  410,  and  left,  without  doubt,  some  lasting  effects. 
The  six  campaigns  in  which  Agricola  sought  to  subdue 
North  Britain,  and  the  numerous  campaigns  of  later  Roman 
invaders,  laid  waste  the  country,  and  exterminated  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  a  population  which  was  already 
sparse,  for  the  forests,  moors,  and  marshes  were  then  ex- 
tensive; while  in  the  course  of  the  three  centuries  of  the 
Roman  occupation  there  would  be  more  or  less  inter- 
marriage with  the  Britons,  and  some  infusion  of  Roman,  or 
at  least  foreign  blood.  Remains  of  Roman  camps  have  been 
found  in  various  places.  We  hear  of  one  (at  Bar  Hill), 
where,  with  a  cohort  of  auxiliaries  from  Germany,  about 
a  thousand  settlers  continued  to  live  for  nearly  half  a 
century.  Dr.  Macewen,  in  his  recent  "History  of  the 
Church  in  Scotland"  (p.  18)  says  that  with  the  Picts  and 
Britons  there  was  "blended  a  mongrel,  half-foreign  element, 
the  residue  of  the  Roman  population.  This  element  is 
difficult  to  explain  in  its  relations  to  native  life,  but  it  is 
extremely  historical  both  in  itself  and  in  its  influences." 
He  describes  the  people  even  at  this  early  date  as  "the 
hybrid  inhabitants  of  Strathclyde" ;  while  Dr.  Zimmer 
points  out  that  Patrick  in  his  letter  to  Coroticus  speaks  of 
the  subjects  of  Coroticus  in  Strathclyde  as  being  of  both 
British  and  Roman  descent. 

(3)  We  have  next  to  record  the  influx  into  the  whole 
province  of  Galloway  and  Strathclyde  of  a  Teutonic  people. 
In  the  words  of  Skene  "Galloway  was  for  centuries  a  pro- 
vince of  the  Anglian  kingdom  of  Northumbria"  ("Celtic 
Scotland,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  311) ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  Strath- 
clyde also.  Bede  informs  us,  for  example,  that  in  the  year 
603  Aethelfrid,  king  of  Northumbria,  "ravaged  the  Britons 
more  than  all  the  great  men  of  the  Angles.  He  conquered 
more  territory  from  the  Britons,  either  making  them  tribu- 


560  APPENDIX  C 

tory  or  expelling  the  inhabitants,  and  planting  Angles  in 
their  places,  than  any  other  king"  ("Eccl.  Hist./'  B.  I.,  c. 
34).  Mark  the  policy  of  the  Northumbrian  king,  as  de- 
scribed by  Bede,  of  "expelling  the  inhabitants  and  planting 
Angles  in  their  places" — a  policy  which  seems  to  have  been 
pursued  by  his  successors.  Bede  also  states  that  Oswald, 
another  Northumbrian  king  (635-642),  "brought  under  his 
dominion  all  the  nations  and  provinces  of  Britain";  and 
that  his  brother  and  successor,  Oswiu,  even  extended  his 
realm  ("Eccl.  Hist.,"  B.  III.,  c.  6).  As  Mr.  Andrew  Lang 
puts  it:  "Oswiu  dominated  Strathclyde  and  Pictland  up  to 
the  Grampians,  the  English  element  for  the  time  extending 
itself,  and  Anglicising  more  and  more  the  Scotland  that 
was  to  be"  (Article  on  "Scotland"  in  "Encycl.  Britan."). 
Under  Ecgfrid,  Oswin's  successor,  they  tried  to  throw  off 
the  yoke  of  servitude,  but  Ecgfrid  "made  so  great  a 
slaughter  of  them  that  two  rivers  were  almost  filled  with 
their  bodies,  and  those  who  fled  were  cut  to  pieces"  (Eddi's 
"Life  of  Wilfrid,"  c.  19).  A  century  later,  in  756,  "the 
successes  of  Eadbert  reduced  the  fortunes  of  the  Britons  in 
this  quarter  of  the  lowest  ebb,"  and  Cunningham  and  Kyle 
were  taken  possession  of,  with  Alclyde  itself,  the  bulwark 
of  the  North  Britons  (Robertson's  "Scotland  Under  Her 
Early  Kings,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  18).  By  the  repeated  ravages, 
slaughter,  and  expulsion  of  the  native  Britons,  they  must 
have  been  immensely  reduced  in  number,  while  the  posses- 
sion and  domination  of  the  province  for  so  long  a  period  by 
a  Teutonic  people,  whose  policy  it  was  to  "expel  the  natives 
and  to  plant  Angles  in  their  stead,"  cannot  but  have  added 
a  large  and  powerful  Teutonic  element  to  a  population  al- 
ready much  reduced  and  mixed  with  other  than  Celtic 
ingredients. 

The  Scandinavian  Invasion 
(4)   But  we  come  now  to  another  Teutonic  invasion  which 
must  have  still  more  profoundly  affected  them — the  seizure 
and  occupation  of  both  Galloway  and  Strathclyde  by  the 


; 


APPENDIX  C  561 

Scandinavians.     There  is  a  record  in  the  Ulster  Annals  to 
the  effect  that  in  822  "Galloway  of  the  Britons  was  laid 
waste  with  all  its  dwellings  and  its  Church."     But  in  870 
again  both  Strathclyde  and  Galloway  were  devastated  by 
the  terrible  Northmen;  Alclyde  was  taken  and  demolished, 
and  many  captives  and  much  booty  carried  away.    And  the 
chronicler,  Symeon  of  Durham,  records  another  desperate 
invasion  of  the  same  territories  by  the  Danes  in  875,  when 
they  laid  waste  the  country  and  "made  great  slaughter"  of 
the  inhabitants ;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  Ulster  Annals. 
Referring  to  the   same  incursion   in  his   "History   of  the 
County  of  Ayr"    (p.    15),   Paterson   says  that  they  "laid 
waste  Galloway  and  a  great  part  of  Strathclyde,"  and  that 
thus  harassed  by  the  insatiable  Northmen,  many  of  the  in- 
habitants "resolved  on  emigrating  to  Wales.     Under  Con- 
stants, their  chief,  they  accordingly  took  their  departure. 
.  .  .  The    Strathclyde    kingdom    was,    of    course,    greatly 
weakened  by  the  departure  of  their  best  warriors,  and  it 
continued  to  be  oppressed  both  by  the  Scots  and  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  princes."    "And  with  the  retreating  emigrants,"  says 
Robertson,  "the  last  semblance  of  independence  departed 
from  the  Britons  of  the  North"  (Scotland  Under  Her  Early 
Kings,'  Vol.   I.,  p.   54).     But  in  944  we  find  the  Danes, 
Ronald  and  his  sons,  in  possession  of  Galloway,  and  con- 
tinuing in  possession  till  the  end  of  the  century,  when  the 
Danes   are  displaced  by  the   Norwegians,  who   remain   in 
occupancy  till  the  end  of  the  next  century  (see  Sir  Herbert 
Maxwell's   "History  of  Dumfries   and   Galloway,"   p.   48; 
Skene's   "Celtic  Scotland,"   and  the  "Annals  of  the  Four 
Masters").     "From   the  end   of  the  ninth  century,"   says 
Rait,   "Norse   settlements   continued   for   300  years.      The 
districts  of  Dumfriesshire  and  Galloway,  all  of  the  Western 
islands,  the  West  coast  of  the  Firth  of  Clyde  northwards, 
and  the  coasts  from  Caithness  and  Sutherland  to  the  Moray 
Firth  were  deeply  affected  by  the  influx  of  a  Scandinavian 
populatidh"  (Rait's  "Scotland,"  p.  7).     As  was  inevitable, 


562  APPENDIX  C 

these  Northmen  left  their  mark  deep  on  Galloway  and 
Strathclyde,  and  added  a  strong  Teutonic  ingredient  to  the 
population.  "It  is  plain/'  says  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  "from 
the  place  names  of  Norse  origin  scattered  through  the 
stewartry  and  the  shire  that  there  was  a  permanent  Scan- 
dinavian settlement  there"  ("History  of  Dumfries  and  Gal- 
loway," p.  38). 

"A  sure  and  certain  test  of  a  colonisation  of  this  descrip- 
tion," says  Robertson,  "is  afforded  by  the  topography  of  the 
districts  occupied,  the  'caster'  and  'by'  invariably  marking 
the  presence  of  the  Northmen  not  only  as  a  dominant,  but 
as  an  actually  occupying  class."  He  then  proceeds  to  give 
clear  evidence  of  such  colonisation  by  the  Northmen  in  the 
South- West  of  Scotland.  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell  also  refers 
to  "the  remains  of  Scandinavian  occupation  preserved  in 
the  place-names  of  the  South- West.  Many  hills,"  he  says, 
"bear  the  title  'fell' — the  Norse  'f jail' — as  in  'Fell  a'  Bar- 
hullian'  in  Glasserton  parish,  or  disguised  as  a  suffix,  as  in 
'Criffel.'  The  well-known  test  syllable,  'by,'  a  village, 
farm,  or  dwelling,  so  characteristic  of  Danish  rather  than 
of  Norse  occupation,  takes  the  place  in  southern  districts 
which  'bolstadr'  holds  in  northern.  'Lockerby,'  the  dwell- 
ing of  Locard  or  Lockhart ;  Canonby  and  Middleby  in  Dum- 
friesshire, Busby,  Sorby,  and  Corsby  in  Wigtonshire  are 
instances  in  point.  'Vik,'  a  creek,  or  small  bay,  gives  the 
name  to  Southwick  (sand-vik  =  sandbay),  and  'n'es,'  a 
cape,  appears  in  Sinniness  (south  point),  and  Borness 
(burgh  or  fort  point).  Pastoral  occupation  is  implied  in 
Fairgirth  (sheep-fold).  .  .  .  Tinwald,  like  Dingwall  in  the 
North,  is  the  Assembly-field,  and  Mouswald  the  Mossfield" 
(Maxwell's  "Dumfries  and  Galloway,"  pp.  44,  45).  A 
Norwegian  writer,  quoted  by  Mackerlie,  states  that  "the 
language  of  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland  is  so  much  like  that 
of  Scandinavia  that  the  Scottish  seamen  wrecked  on  the 
coasts  of  Jutland  and  Norway  have  been  able  to  converse 
without  difficulty  in  their  mother-tongue  with  the  people 
there." 


APPENDIX  C  563 

In  short,  nothing  in  Scottish  history  is  more  certain  than 
that  a  very  large  infusion  of  Danish  and  Norse  blood  has 
been  given  to  the  people  of  Galloway  and  Strathclyde.  In 
view  of  the  repeated  devastation  and  depopulation  of  the 
country  by  war  and  by  emigration  of  the  natives,  and  the 
large  influx  and  colonisation  by  Scandinavians,  that  in- 
fusion must  have  been  very  large  indeed. 

The  Normans  and  Saxons 

(5)  But  we  have  to  notice  in  the  next  place  the  greatest 
revolution  of  all  in  the  history  of  this  region,  and  of  nearly 
all  Scotland,  the  revolution  caused  by  the  influx  of  Saxons 
and  Normans. 

"Through  the  troubles  in  England  consequent  on  the 
Danish  and  Norman  invasions,"  says  Dr.  Hume  Brown,  a 
"succession  of  Saxon  settlers  crossed  the  Tweed  in  search 
of  the  peace  they  could  not  find  at  home.  In  itself  this  im- 
migration must  have  powerfully  affected  the  course  of 
Scottish  history;  but  under  the  Saxon  Margaret  and  her 
sons  the  southern  influence  was  directed  and  concentrated 
with  a  deliberate  persistence  that  eventually  reduced  the 
Celtic  element  to  a  subsidiary  place  in  the  development  of 
the  Scottish  nation."  And  here  it  is  most  important  to  take 
note  of  and  to  carry  in  our  memory  the  emphatic  statement 
of  Dr.  Hume  Brown  with  regard  to  the  district  under  con- 
sideration when  the  Saxon  and  Norman  colonisation  began. 
"From  all  we  know  of  Strathclyde  and  Galloway  previous 
to  the  time  of  the  Saxonised  and  Normanised  kings"  (Dr. 
Brown  says)  "extensive  districts  must  have  consisted  of 
waste  land"  ("History  of  Scotland,"  Cambridge  Historical 
Series,  pp.  50,  89). 

The  movement  which  began  under  Malcolm  II.  (1005- 
1034)  went  on  on  a  still  larger  scale  in  the  time  of  Malcolm 
Canmore  (1057-1093).  He  had  long  resided  as  an  exile 
at  the  Court  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  had  become 
thoroughly  English  in  sentiment  and  sympathy.  It  was 
in  his  time  that  the  Norman  Conquest  took  place,  and  had 


564  APPENDIX  C 

a  profound  influence  on  the  history  of  Scotland — an  in- 
fluence which  appears  not  only  in  the  copious  inflow  of 
Englishmen  into  Scotland,  but  in  the  gradual  transforma- 
tion of  Scottish  society  and  Scottish  institutions.  "The 
form  in  which  the  Conquest  was  first  felt  in  Scotland/'  says 
Dr.  Hill  Burton,  "was  by  a  steady  migration  of  the  Saxon 
people  northward.  They  found  in  Scotland  people  of  their 
own  race,  and  made  a  marked  addition  to  the  predominance 
of  the  Saxon  and  Teutonic  elements"  (Hill  Burton's  "His- 
tory of  Scotland,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  373). 

On  the  death  of  their  king  at  Hastings,  Edgar  the 
Atheling  had  been  chosen  by  the  English  people  to  suc- 
ceed him,  but  he  and  his  mother  and  two  sisters,  driven 
from  England  by  the  Conqueror,  took  refuge  at  the  Court 
of  Malcolm  Canmore.  And  not  only  the  Royal  family,  but 
"many  of  the  Saxons  fled  into  Scotland,"  says  Cunning- 
ham, "to  escape  from  their  Norman  masters.  .  .  .  From 
this  period,"  he  adds,  "we  find  a  stream  of  Saxon  and 
Norman  settlers  pouring  into  Scotland.  They  came  not  as 
conquerors,  and  yet  they  came  to  possess  the  land.  With 
amazing  rapidity,  sometimes  by  Royal  grants,  and  some- 
times by  advantageous  marriages,  they  acquired  the  most 
fertile  districts  from  the  Tweed  to  the  Pentland  Firth ;  and 
almost  every  noble  family  in  Scotland  now  traces  from 
them  its  descent.  The  strangers  brought  with  them  English 
civilisation"  (Cunningham's  "Church  History  of  Scotland," 
Vol.  I.,  p.  105).  Edgar's  sister,  Margaret,  who  became 
Malcolm's  queen,  was  an  able  and  ambitious,  as  well  as  an 
intensely  religious  woman  after  the  Roman  fashion,  bent  on 
the  predominance  of  the  English  interest  and  of  the  Eng- 
lish, that  is,  of  the  Roman  Church.  In  1070  Malcolm,  her 
husband,  made  a  raid  into  England,  harried  Cumberland, 
and  carried  back  with  him  to  Scotland  as  captives  large 
numbers  of  young  people  of  both  sexes.  "So  great  was 
the  number  of  these  captives,"  says  the  chronicler,  Symeon 
of  Durham,  "that  for  many  years  they  were  to  be  found  in 


APPENDIX  C  565 

every  Scottish  village,  nay,  in  every  Scottish  hovel.  In 
consequence,  Scotland  became  filled  with  menservants  and 
maidservants  of  English  parentage;  so  much  so  that  even 
at  the  present  day/'  says  Symeon,  writing  in  1120,  "hot 
only  is  not  the  smallest  village,  but  not  even  is  the  humblest 
house  to  be  found  without  them."  "And  besides  the  Saxons, 
many  of  the  Norman  nobility,  dissatisfied  with  the  rule  of 
the  Conqueror,  retired  to  Scotland,  where  they  were  en- 
couraged by  every  mark  of  distinction  that  could  be  heaped 
upon  them"  (Paterson's  "History  of  the  County  of  Ayr," 
Vol.  I.,  p.  18).  After  referring  to  Symeon's  testimony,  Dr. 
Macewen  adds  that  "in  the  next  half-century  there  arrived 
with  the  monks  a  stream  of  settlers  engaged  in  trade  and 
agriculture,  who  frequented  the  towns  or  markets  which 
were  usually  established  in  the  vicinity  of  monasteries. 
According  to  another  chronicler,  William  of  Newburgh,  all 
the  inhabitants  of  Scottish  towns  and  burghs  were  English- 
men" ("History  of  the  Church  in  Scotland,"  Vol.  I,  pp. 
172,  173).  It  is  certainly  not  going  too  far  to  say,  as  Mr. 
Andrew  Lang  does,  that  "the  long  reign  of  Malcolm  Can- 
more  intensified  the  sway  of  English  ideas,  and  increased 
the  prepotency  of  the  English  element"  (Article  on  "Scot- 
land" in  "Encyclop.  Brit."). 

And  the  policy  of  Malcolm  was  followed  by  his  succes- 
sors. Of  his  son  Edgar  (1097-1107)  we  are  informed  that 
"he  welcomed  the  stream  of  settlers  who  poured  into  Scot- 
land in  ever-increasing  volume,"  while  Edgar's  brother, 
Alexander  I.  (1107-1124)  "did  his  utmost  to  Anglicise  both 
Church  and  State  to  the  north  of  the  Forth." 

It  was,  however,  by  David  I.  (1124-1153),  who  has  been 
called  "the  maker  of  Scotland,"  that  more  was  done  in  the 
way  of  Anglicising,  Teutonising,  and  revolutionising  that 
country  than  by  any  of  his  predecessors.  And  now  it  is  by 
Norman  rather  than  by  Saxon  agency  and  influence  that 
the  revolution  is  effected.  Instead  of  describing  in  my 
own  words  the  change  that  was  now  wrought,  I  think  it 


566  APPENDIX  C 

better  here,  for  obvious  reasons,  to  put  before  you  the 
statements  of  Dr.  Hume  Brown  in  his  "History  of  Scot- 
land." "When  during  the  reign  of  David  the  Eastern 
Lowlands  became  the  heart  of  his  dominions,"  he  says, 
"the  future  course  of  Scotland  may  be  said  to  have  been 
determined;  it  was  then  finally  assured  that  the  Teutonic 
races  were  to  be  the  predominating  force  in  fashioning  the 
destinies  of  the  country."  "It  was  during  David's  reign 
that  the  Norman  element  attained  such  a  predominance  as 
to  become  the  great  formative  influence  in  the  Scottish 
kingdom."  "The  dominating  fact  of  the  period  is  the  ex- 
tensive assignment  of  lands  within  the  bounds  of  Scotland 
to  men  of  Norman,  Saxon,  or  Danish  extraction.  Wherever 
these  strangers  settled  they  formed  centres  of  force,  com- 
pelling acceptance  of  the  new  order  in  Church  and  State 
by  the  reluctant  natives.  .  .  .  This  gradual  apportionment 
of  lands  by  successive  kings  had  begun  at  least  in  the  reign 
of  Malcolm  Canmore;  but  it  was  David  who  performed  it 
on  a  scale  which  converted  it  into  a  revolution."  As  ex- 
amples of  what  was  done  Dr.  Hume  Brown  notices  the 
grant  of  Annandale  to  de  Bruce,  of  Cunningham  in  Ayr- 
shire to  de  Moreville,  and  of  Renfrew,  with  part  of  Kyle, 
to  Fitzalan;  but  these  are  only  specimens  of  a  colonisation 
which  took  place  on  a  most  extensive  scale.  Referring  to 
Strathclyde,  Lothian,  and  the  East  country  north  of  the 
Forth,  Dr.  Hume  Brown  proceeds — "In  the  case  of  these 
three  districts,  the  revolution  was  at  once  rapid  and  far- 
reaching.  Following  the  example  of  his  fellows  elsewhere, 
the  Southern  baron  planted  a  castle  on  the  most  advantage- 
ous site  on  his  new  estate.  With  him  he  brought  a  body 
of  retainers,  by  whose  aid  he  at  once  secured  his  own 
position,  and  wrought  such  changes  in  his  neighborhood  as 
were  consistent  with  the  conditions  on  which  the  fief  had 
been  granted.  In  the  vill  or  town  which  grew  up  beside 
his  castle  were  found  not  only  his  own  people,  but  natives 
of  the  neighbourhood  who,  by  the  feudal  law,  went  to  the 


APPENDIX  C  567 

lord  with  the  lands  on  which  they  resided.  ...  In  the 
East  country  to  the  north  of  the  Forth  a  change  in  nomen- 
clature is  a  significant  indication  of  the  breach  that  was 
made  with  the  old  order"  ("History  of  Scotland/'  Vol.  I., 
pp.  88,  89,  90).  "Of  the  nation  itself,  it  may  be  said,"  Dr. 
Brown  adds,  "that  the  Teutonic  element  had  now  the  pre- 
ponderating influence  in  directing  its  affairs.  The  most 
valuable  parts  of  the  country  were  in  the  hands  of  men 
of  Norman  and  Saxon  descent,  and  the  towns  owed  their 
prosperity  to  the  same  people"  (p.  131). 
The  Flemish  Advent 

So  much  with  regard  to  the  Saxons  and  Normans,  who, 
for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half,  continued  to  flood 
Scotland,  and  to  make  the  race  predominant  in  the  country. 

(6)  But  the  entrance  of  yet  another  Teutonic  element 
has  now  to  be  recorded.  "One  great  cause  of  the  wealth 
and  prosperity  of  Scotland  during  these  early  times,"  says 
the  well-known  historian,  Mr.  Fraser  Tytler,  "was  the  set- 
tlement of  multitudes  of  Flemish  merchants  in  the  country, 
who  brought  with  them  the  knowledge  of  trade  and  manu- 
factures, and  the  habits  of  application  and  industry.  In 
1155  Henry  II.  banished  all  foreigners  from  his  dominions, 
and  the  Flemings,  of  whom  there  were  great  numbers  in 
England,  eagerly  flocked  into  the  neighbouring  country, 
which  offered  them  a  near  and  safe  asylum.  We  can  trace 
the  settlement  of  these  industrious  citizens  during  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  in  almost  every  part  of 
Scotland,  in  Berwick,  in  St.  Andrews,  Perth,  Dumbarton, 
Ayr,  Peebles,  Lanark,  Edinburgh,  and  in  the  districts  of 
Renfrewshire,  Clydesdale  and  Annandale,  in  Fife,  in 
Angus,  in  Aberdeenshire,  and  as  far  north  as  Inverness  and 
Urquhart"  (Tytler's  "History  of  Scotland,"  Vol.  II.,  c. 
iii.,  §  4). 

Try  now  to  realize  the  transformation  which  in  the 
course  of  more  than  1,000  years  of  eventful  history — of 
repeated  slaughterings,  emigrations,  and  colonizations — the 


568  APPENDIX  C 

inhabitants  of  Galloway  and  Strathclyde  have  undergone. 
We  have,  first  of  all,  as  aborigines  the  Picts,  who  were  not 
Celts,  but  who  continued  to  survive  in  considerable  num- 
bers. We  have  next  the  British,  or  Brythonic,  Celts,  akin 
to  the  Welsh,  who  subjected,  but  did  not  expel  the  Picts. 
We  have  the  numerous  Roman  campaigns  against  the 
British,  in  which  large  numbers  of  the  latter  were  slain  or 
carried  captive,  and  in  the  course  of  a  Roman  occupation 
of  300  years'  duration  the  addition  of  more  or  less  of  a 
Roman  element.  We  have  next  for  a  long  period  measured 
by  centuries  its  possession  and  domination  by  the  Teutonic 
Northumbrians,  an  immense  reduction  of  the  number  of 
the  native  inhabitants  by  war,  captivity,  and  actual  emi- 
gration, and  the  settlement  there  of  many  Angles,  We 
have,  then,  its  capture  and  occupation  by  the  Northmen, 
and  a  powerful  addition  of  Danish  and  Norse  blood  to  the 
population.  Most  important  of  all,  we  have  for  a  period 
of  more  than  a  century  pouring  into  the  country  a  con- 
tinuous stream  of  Saxon  and  Norman  colonists,  who,  in 
conjunction  with  other  Teutonic  settlers,  soon  took  the 
upper  hand  and  became  predominant.  And  finally,  we 
have  the  inflow  of  a  multitude  of  Flemings,  who  were  also 
Teutons. 

There  was  unquestionably  in  "the  remains  of  the  old 
Midland  Britons"  a  Celtic  element,  which,  however,  through 
inter-marriage  and  fusion  of  the  races  in  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  soon  ceased  in  the  Lowlands  to  be  a 
separate  and  appreciable  quantity.  By  that  inter-marriage 
race  distinctions  were  obliterated,  and  the  Scottish  people 
of  the  Lowlands  amalgamated  and  consolidated  into  a 
compact  unity,  in  which  the  Celtic  element  had  become 
decidedly  exiguous.  As  Mr.  Andrew  Lang  puts  it:  "A 
Dumfries,  Ayr,  Renfrew,  Lanark,  or  Peebles  man,  as  a 
dweller  in  Strathclyde,  has  some  chance  of  remote  British 
(Brython)  ancestors  in  his  pedigree;  a  Selkirk,  Roxburgh, 
Berwickshire,  or   Lothian  man  is   probably   for  the  most 


APPENDIX  C  569 

part  of  English  blood"  (Article  on  "Scotland"  in  "Encycl. 
Britannica"). 

"Since  the  twelfth  age,"  says  Father  Innes,  "We  have 
no  further  mention  of  the  Walenses  or  Welsh  ["the  remains 
of  the  old  Midland  Britons"]  in  those  parts  as  a  distinct 
people,  they  being  insensibly  so  united  with  and  incor- 
porated into  one  people  with  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of 
that  country,  that  in  the  following  age  they  appeared  no 
less  eclipsed  or  vanished  than  if  they  had  left  the  coun- 
try." "Thence  come,"  he  adds,  "the  expressions  of  the 
preface  to  the  Chartulary  of  Glasgo,  that  the  remains  of 
the  old  Britons  or  Welsh  in  the  Western  parts  of  Scotland 
had  been  by  the  invasions  and  ravages  of  the  Picts,  Saxons, 
Scots,  and  Danes  forced  to  leave  the  country"  ("Critical 
Essay  on  the  Ancient  Inhabitants  of  the  Northern  Parts 
of  Britain  or  Scotland,"  Book  I.,  c.  ii.,  p.  41,  in  Vol.  VIII. 
of  the  "Historians  of  Scotland").  Father  Innes  is  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  most  learned,  best  informed,  and  ac- 
curate of  Scottish  historians. 

The  Second  Territory 

II.  We  turn  now  to  the  second  territory,  including  Edin- 
burghshire, Haddingtonshire,  and  Berwickshire,  which  pro- 
vided a  considerable  number  of  the  Ulster  colonists  of  King 
James's  Plantation.  These  are  all  named  in  the  records  as 
having  supplied  not  a  few  of  the  Ulster  undertakers  and 
settlers.  Now,  the  whole  district  from  the  Tees  to  the 
Forth,  embracing  these  counties,  was  early  taken  possession 
of  by  a  Teutonic  people.  Prior  even  to  449,  a  tract  of 
country  south  of  the  Forth  had  received  a  considerable  set- 
tlement of  Frisians,  a  Teutonic  race.  But  under  a  leader 
of  the  Angles  called  Ida  an  English  kingdom  was  founded 
there  in  547  called  the  kingdom  of  Bernicia.  Later,  with 
Deira  added,  it  became  the  kingdom  of  Northumbria,  con- 
sisting of  a  thoroughly  Teutonic  people,  Angles  or  English 
both  in  blood  and  speech.     Later  still,  Northumbria  was 


570  APPENDIX  C 

taken  by  the  Northmen,  who  added  another  powerful  in- 
gredient to  the  Teutonic  blood  of  the  people  there,  which 
was  still  further  strengthened  by  two  causes  already 
noticed — first,  by  the  immigration  of  the  discontented  refu- 
gees who  followed  Edgar,  the  Atheling,  from  England  on 
the  invasion  of  the  Normans,  and,  secondly,  by  the  numer- 
ous captives  carried  into  Scotland  by  Malcolm  Canmore. 

By  the  victory  of  the  Scottish  King,  Malcolm  II.,  over 
Northumbria  at  Carham  in  1018,  the  whole  territory  from 
the  Tweed  to  the  Forth,  containing  the  counties  named, 
was  ceded  to  Malcolm.  This  cession  of  what  was  now 
called  Lothian  was  one  of  the  most  momentous  and  epoch- 
making  events  in  Scottish  history,  for  it  added  a  rich, 
fertile,  Teutonic,  and  English-speaking  province  to  the 
Scottish  kingdom,  which  before  long  became  the  central 
and  predominating  influence  in  the  nation.  "It  involved 
nothing  less  than  the  transference  to  another  race  of  the 
main  destinies  of  a  united  Scottish  people,"  and  the  Angli- 
cising of  all  Lowland  Scotland  (Hume  Brown,  p.  43). 

But  what  I  ask  you  very  particularly  to  notice  is  that 
the  people  occupying  that  region  of  Lothian,  which  sent  a 
very  considerable  number  of  colonists  to  Ulster,  were 
Angles  or  English,  so  that  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  Ulster 
immigrants  from  that  area  were  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
of  purely  Teutonic  blood.  "The  annexation  of  Lothian," 
says  Paterson,  "occupied  for  centuries  chiefly  by  the 
Angles,  brought  them  into  closer  contact  with  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  adjacent  districts,  while  a  body  of  Saxons 
actually  effected  a  settlement  in  Kyle  and  Cunningham. 
.  .  .  The  many  Saxons  brought  into  Scotland  by  Malcolm 
Canmore  .  .  .  must  have  tended  greatly  to  disseminate  a 
language  already  constituting  the  vernacular  tongue  of  the 
East  Coast  from  the  Forth  to  the  Tweed.  ...  In  the 
next,  or  Anglo-Saxon  period,  the  growth  of  the  Scottish 
dialect  can  be  still  more  distinctly  traced"  ("History  of 
County  of  Ayr,"  Vol.  I.,  pp.  16,  17). 


APPENDIX  C  571 

PlCTLAND 

III.  We  pass  finally  to  that  wide  territory  north  of  the 
Forth,  known  in  early  times  as  Pictland,  and  which  gave 
many  emigrants  to  Ulster.  It  is  known  that  a  good  many 
years  later  than  the  actual  Plantation  under  King  James, 
a  large  number  of  people  came  from  the  region  that  lies 
between  Aberdeen  and  Inverness,  the  ancient  province  of 
Moray.  In  a  curious  book  of  "Travels"  by  Sir  William 
Brereton,  the  author  states  that  in  July,  1635,  he  came  to 
the  house  of  Mr.  James  Blare,  in  Irvine,  Ayrshire,  who  in- 
formed him  that  "above  10,000  persons  have  within  two 
years  last  past  left  the  country  wherein  they  lived,  which 
was  betwixt  Aberdine  and  Ennerness,  and  are  gone  for 
Ireland;  they  have  come  by  one  hundred  in  company 
through  this  town,  and  three  hundred  have  gone  hence  to- 
gether, shipped  for  Ireland  at  one  tide."  Now,  what  is 
the  previous  history  of  that  province  of  ancient  Moray, 
lying  between  Aberdeen  and  Inverness,  from  which  they 
emigrated?  It  was  originally  inhabited  by  Picts,  a  non- 
Celtic  people.     But  its  later  history  is  noteworthy. 

It  was  one  of  the  territories  which  the  Northmen  took 
possession  of  and  made  their  own.  In  875  Thorstein  the 
Red,  a  Danish  leader,  added  Caithness,  Sutherland,  Ross, 
and  Moray  to  his  dominions.  Later  the  same  territory  was 
seized  by  the  Norse  jarl,  Sigurd,  who  ruled  over  it  till  his 
death  at  the  battle  of  Clontarf,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Thorfinn,  so  that  for  a  long  period  it  was  practically 
a  province  of  Norway.  Skene  says  that  the  Mormaers  and 
men  of  Moray  "had  as  often  been  subject  to  the  Norwegian 
earls  as  they  had  been  to  the  Scottish  kings."  It  is  known 
that,  occupying  that  province  for  so  long  a  series  of  years, 
the  Northmen  added  a  strong  Norse  element  to  the  blood 
of  the  residents;  while  it  was  the  scene  of  many  conflicts 
which  must  have  greatly  diminished  the  native  population. 

But  another  vigorous  Teutonic  ingredient  was  still  to  be 
given  to  it.     The  old  province  of  Moray  was  one  of  those 


572  APPENDIX  C 

specially  favoured  by  a  large  and  liberal  Norman  coloniza- 
tion. The  Mormaer  of  Moray  and  his  brother  in  1130  took 
advantage  of  David's  absence  in  England  to  raise  a  force 
hostile  to  the  king's  interest,  and  they  were  defeated  with 
heavy  loss — the  "Annals  of  Ulster  record  that  4,000  of 
the  Morebh  were  slain/'  "and  so  complete  was  the  victory/' 
says  Dr.  Hume  Brown,  "that  the  district  of  Moray  was 
definitely  attached  to  the  Scottish  Crown,  and  its  lands 
divided  among  the  Normans,  and  such  of  the  natives  as 
the  king  could  trust"  ("History  of  Scotland,"  Vol.  I.,  p. 
76).  He  adds  that  it  "was  largely  colonized  by  Norman 
settlers."  Another  rising  was  attempted  in  1162  under 
Malcolm  IV.,  "who,"  we  are  informed,  "expelled  very 
many  of  the  rebellious  inhabitants  of  Moray,  and  planted 
new  colonists  in  their  place,  chief  among  whom  were  the 
Flemings  or  natives  of  Flanders"  ("Critical  Essay,"  &c, 
by  Thos.  Innes,  M.A.,  p.  102).  In  those  10,000  emigrants 
who  went  to  Ulster  from  this  region  there  may  have  been 
some  infusion  of  Pictish  blood,  but  it  is  probable  that  by 
that  time  its  main  ingredient  was  Teutonic. 

Variety  of  Races 
In  the  rapid  survey  I  have  given  the  thing  that  most 
strikes  one  is  the  great  variety  of  races  that  have  combined 
to  produce  the  Lowland  Scot,  whether  he  resides  on  the 
other  side  or  on  this  side  of  the  Channel.  Pict  and  Celt, 
Roman,  Frisian,  Angle,  and  Saxon,  Dane  and  Norwegian, 
Norman  and  Fleming — ten  different  nationalities — have 
all  gone  to  the  making  of  him.  It  is  not  to  any  one  con- 
stituent, but  to  the  union  and  combination  in  himself  of 
such  a  great  variety  of  vigorous  elements  that  he  owes 
those  distinctive  traits  and  qualities  which  distinguish  him 
from  other  men.  If  you  ask  what  proportion  the  Celt  bears 
to  the  other  nationalities  which  have  united  in  the  amalgam 
which  we  call  the  "Ulster  Scot,"  my  own  impression  is 
that  the  Angle  and  the  Saxon,  the  Dane  and  the  Nor- 
wegian, the  Norman  and  the  Fleming,  all  of  which  have 


APPENDIX  C  573 

gone  to  his  formation,  when  taken  together,  make  a  com- 
bination by  which,  I  imagine,  the  Celt  in  him  is  oyer- 
powered  and  dominated.  That  is  my  impression,  but  you 
can  gauge  the  justice  of  it  by  the  facts  which  I  have  placed 
before  you.  And  the  course  of  the  subsequent  history  seems 
to  justify  this  view.  It  is  significant  that,  after  the  amal- 
gamation of  the  races  to  which  I  have  referred,  the  people 
of  the  Lowlands  should  be  habitually  regarded  and  spoken 
of  as  Sassenachs,  and  the  Highlanders  of  the  West  as 
Celts.  After  the  Teutonisation  of  the  former,  and  the 
fusion  of  the  races,  and  when  the  unabsorbed  Celtic  popu- 
lation was  confined  mainly  to  the  Western  Highlands  and 
Islands,  it  was  almost  inevitable  that  there  should  be  a 
determined  and  final  struggle  on  the  part  of  the  latter  to 
maintain,  if  not  their  predominance,  at  least  their  inde- 
pendence. Such  a  decisive  struggle  actually  occurred  at 
the  famous  and  desperate  battle  of  Harlaw  in  1411. 
Donald,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  a  Celtic  chieftain,  with  many 
Highland  chiefs  at  the  head  of  their  clans,  and  an  army 
of  10,000  men,  set  out  to  seize  Aberdeen,  bent  on  making 
himself  master  of  the  country  as  far  south  as  the  Tay, 
when  he  was  met  at  Harlaw  by  the  Earl  of  Mar,  son  of 
"the  wolf  of  Badenoch,"  defeated  in  "one  of  the  bloodiest 
battles  ever  fought  in  Scotland,"  driven  back  to  his  fast- 
nesses, and  compelled  to  make  submission.  By  both  High- 
land and  Lowland  historians  the  battle  of  Harlaw  is  de- 
scribed as  "a  decisive  contest  between  the  two  races,"  the 
Saxon  and  the  Celt.  The  authors  of  "The  Clan  Donald" 
assert  that  "Donald's  policy  was  clearly  to  set  up  a  Celtic 
supremacy  in  the  West";  and  Dr.  Hume  Brown  affirms 
that  "as  a  decisive  victory  of  the  Saxon  over  the  Celt,"  the 
battle  of  Harlaw  "ranks  with  the  battle  of  Carham  in  its 
determining  influence  on  the  development  of  the  Scottish 
nation,"  and  in  "ensuring  the  growth  of  a  Teutonic  Scot- 
land" ("History  of  Scotland,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  206). 

Sir  Walter  Scott  was  more  than  a  mere  writer  of  ro- 


574  APPENDIX  C 

mance.  From  his  early  years  he  had  given  special  interest 
and  continued  attention  to  antiquarian  pursuits,  and  to  the 
past  history  of  his  country,  an  interest  which  appears  in 
the  historical  cast  and  character  of  so  many  of  his  tales. 
It  is  true  he  wrote  under  a  personal  bias  against  the  men 
of  the  Covenant,  but  that  he  was  exceptionally  familiar 
with  antiquarian  lore,  and  had  an  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  past  history  of  Scotland  is  beyond  question.  Now,  Sir 
Walter  Scott  habitually  represents  the  Lowlanders  as 
"Saxons"  (which  he  uses  as  an  equivalent  for  "Teutons") 
and  the  Highlanders  as  Celts.  In  the  "Fair  Maid  of 
Perth,"  for  example,  the  Booshalloch  says  to  Simon  the 
Glover  from  Perth,  "These  are  bad  manners  which  he  [the 
young  Celtic  Highland  chief]  has  learned  among  you  Sas- 
senachs  in  the  Low  Country."  Then  at  the  desperate  com- 
bat on  the  North  Inch  of  Perth  between  the  warriors  of 
the  two  Highland  Clans,  Clan  Qubele  and  Clan  Chattan, 
when  the  latter  discovered  the  absence  through  funk  of 
one  of  their  heroes:  "Say  nothing  to  the  Saxons  of  his 
absence,"  said  the  chief,  MacGillie  Chattanach;  "the  false 
Lowland  tongues  might  say  that  one  of  Clan  Chattan  was 
a  coward."  To  the  great  literary  artist,  the  Lowlanders 
are  to  all  intents  and  purposes  "Saxons."  Was  an  anti- 
quarian expert,  such  as  Scott  was,  likely  to  put  into  the 
mouth  of  a  Highland  chief  what  he  believed  to  be  a  gross 
historical  blunder? 

But  Scott  is  not  alone  in  this  representation.  I  have 
given  the  statements  of  Dr.  Hume  Brown,  the  Historiogra- 
pher Royal  of  Scotland,  and  Professor  of  Ancient  Scottish 
History  and  Palaeography  in  Edinburgh  University.  I 
shall  only  trouble  you  with  the  deliberate  judgment  of 
another  modern  historian,  who  has  traversed  the  whole  field 
of  Scottish  history.  "The  Scots,  originally  Irish,"  says 
Mr.  Andrew  Lang,  "have  given  their  name  to  a  country 
whereof,  perhaps,  the  greatest  part  of  the  natives  are  as 
English  in  blood  as  they  are  in  speech"  ("History  of  Scot- 
land," Vol.  I.,  p.  37). 


APPENDIX  C  575 

In  Conclusion 

The  exact  proportion  of  the  Celt  in  the  Lowland  Scots- 
man or  the  Ulsterman  it  is  now  impossible  to  measure  with 
precision.  It  is  the  fact  that  so  many  different  races  have 
united  in  producing  him — that  the  blood  not  only  of  the  Pict 
and  the  Celt,  but  of  the  Frisian,  the  Angle,  and  the  Saxon, 
the  Norwegian  and  the  Dane,  the  Norman  and  the  Fleming, 
all  intermingled,  is  flowing  in  his  veins — that  seems  to  me 
the  main  thing  to  be  noted  in  the  making  of  him,  the  secret 
to  which  he  owes  the  distinguishing  features  in  his  char- 
acter. What  are  they?  To  summarize  them  in  a  sentence, 
are  they  not  something  like  these?  An  economy  and  even 
parsimony  of  words,  which  does  not  always  betoken  a 
poverty  of  ideas;  an  insuperable  dislike  to  wear  his  heart 
upon  his  sleeve,  or  make  a  display  of  the  deeper  and  more 
tender  feelings  of  his  nature;  a  quiet  and  undemonstrative 
deportment  which  may  have  great  firmness  and  determina- 
tion behind  it;  a  dour  exterior  which  may  cover  a  really 
genial  disposition  and  kindly  heart;  much  caution,  wari- 
ness, and  reserve,  but  a  decision,  energy  of  character,  and 
tenacity  of  purpose,  which,  as  in  the  case  of  Enoch  Arden, 
"hold  his  will  and  bear  it  through;"  a  very  decided  prac- 
tical faculty  which  has  an  eye  on  the  main  chance,  but 
which  may  co-exist  with  a  deep-lying  fund  of  sentiment; 
a  capacity  for  hard  work  and  close  application  to  business, 
which,  with  thrift  and  patient  persistence,  is  apt  to  bear 
fruit  in  considerable  success ;  in  short,  a  reserve  of  strength, 
self-reliance,  courage,  and  endurance  which,  when  an 
emergency  demands  (as  behind  the  Walls  of  Derry),  may 
surprise  the  world. 


APPENDIX  D 

STATEMENT  OF   FRONTIER  GRIEVANCES 

"We,  Matthew  Smith  and  James  Gibson,  in  behalf  of 
ourselves  and  his  Majesty's  faithful  and  loyal  subjects,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  frontier  countries  of  Lancaster,  York, 
Cumberland,  Berks,  and  Northampton,  humbly  beg  leave 
to  remonstrate  and  lay  before  you  the  following  griev- 
ances, which  we  submit  to  your  wisdom  for  redress. 

"First,  We  apprehend  that  as  Freemen  and  English  sub- 
jects, we  have  an  indisputable  title  to  the  same  privileges 
and  immunities  with  his  Majesty's  other  subjects  who  re- 
side in  the  interior  counties  of  Philadelphia,  Chester,  and 
Bucks,  and,  therefore,  ought  not  to  be  excluded  from  an 
equal  share  with  them  in  the  very  important  privilege  of 
legislation;  nevertheless,  contrary  to  the  Proprietor's  char- 
ter and  the  acknowledged  principles  of  common  justice  and 
equity,  our  five  counties  are  restrained  from  electing  more 
than  ten  Representatives,  viz.,  four  for  Lancaster,  two 
for  York,  two  for  Cumberland,  one  for  Berks,  and  one 
for  Northampton;  while  the  three  counties  and  City  of 
Philadelphia,  Chester,  and  Bucks,  elect  twenty-six.  This 
we  humbly  conceive  is  oppressive,  unequal,  and  unjust,  the 
cause  of  many  of  our  grievances,  and  an  infringement  of 
our  natural  privileges  of  Freedom  and  equality;  where- 
fore, we  humbly  pray  that  we  may  be  no  longer  deprived 
of  an  equal  number  with  the  three  aforesaid  counties,  to 
represent  us  in  Assembly. 

"Secondly,  We  understand  that  a  bill  is  now  before  the 
House  of  Assembly,  wherein  it  is  provided  that  such  per- 
sons as  shall  be  charged  with  killing  any  Indians  in  Lan- 

576 


APPENDIX  D  577 

caster  County,  shall  not  be  tried  in  the  County  where  the 
act  was  committed,  but  in  the  Counties  of  Philadelphia, 
Chester,  or  Bucks.  This  is  manifestly  to  deprive  British 
subjects  of  their  known  privileges,  to  cast  an  eternal  re- 
proach upon  whole  counties,  as  if  they  were  unfit  to  serve 
their  county  in  the  quality  of  jurymen,  and  to  contradict 
the  well-known  laws  of  the  British  nation  in  a  point  where- 
on life,  liberty,  and  security  essentially  depend,  namely, 
that  of  being  tried  by  their  equals  in  the  neighborhood 
where  their  own,  their  accusers,  and  the  witnesses'  char- 
acter and  credit,  with  the  circumstances  of  the  fact,  are 
best  known,  and  instead  thereof  putting  their  lives  in  the 
hands  of  strangers,  who  may  as  justly  be  suspected  of 
partiality  to  as  the  frontier  counties  can  be  of  prejudices 
against  Indians;  and  this,  too,  in  favor  of  Indians  only, 
against  his  Majesty's  faithful  and  loyal  subjects.  Besides 
it  is  well  known  that  the  design  of  it  is  to  comprehend  a 
fact  committed  before  such  a  law  was  thought  of.  And  if 
such  practices  were  tolerated,  no  man  could  be  secure  in 
his  most  valuable  interest.  We  are  also  informed,  to  our 
great  surprise,  that  this  bill  has  actually  received  the 
assent  of  a  majority  of  the  House,  which  we  are  persuaded 
could  not  have  been  the  case,  had  our  frontier  counties  been 
equally  represented  in  Assembly.  However,  we  hope  that 
the  Legislature  of  this  Province  will  never  enact  a  law  of 
so  dangerous  a  tendency,  or  take  away  from  his  Majesty's 
good  subjects  a  privilege  so  long  esteemed  sacred  by 
Englishmen. 

"Thirdly.  During  the  late  and  present  Indian  War,  the 
frontiers  of  this  Province  have  been  repeatedly  attacked 
and  ravaged  by  skulking  parties  of  the  Indians,  who  have 
with  the  most  savage  cruelty  murdered  men,  women,  and 
children,  without  distinction,  and  have  reduced  near  a 
thousand  families  to  the  most  extreme  distress.  It  grieves 
us  to  the  very  heart  to  see  such  of  our  frontier  inhabitants 
as  have  escaped  savage  fury  with  the  loss  of  their  parents, 


578  APPENDIX  D 

their  children,  their  wives,  or  relations,  left  destitute  by 
the  public,  and  exposed  to  the  most  cruel  poverty  and 
wretchedness,  while  upwards  of  an  hundred  and  twenty  of 
these  savages,  who  are  with  great  reason  suspected  of 
being  guilty  of  these  horrid  barbarities,  under  the  mask 
of  friendship,  have  procured  themselves  to  be  taken  under 
the  protection  of  the  Government,  with  a  view  to  elude  the 
fury  of  the  brave  relatives  of  the  murdered,  and  are  now 
maintained  at  the  public  expense.  Some  of  these  Indians, 
now  in  the  barracks  of  Philadelphia,  are  confessedly  a 
part  of  the  Wyalusing  Indians,  which  tribe  is  now  at  war 
with  us,  and  the  others  are  the  Moravian  Indians,  who, 
living  with  us  under  the  cloak  of  friendship,  carried  on  a 
correspondence  with  our  known  enemies  on  the  Great 
Island.  We  cannot  but  observe,  with  sorrow  and  indigna- 
tion, that  some  persons  in  this  Province  are  at  pains  to 
extenuate  the  barbarous  cruelties  practiced  by  these  sav- 
ages on  our  murdered  brethren  and  relatives,  which  are 
shocking  to  human  nature,  and  must  pierce  every  heart 
but  that  of  the  hardened  perpetrators  or  their  abettors; 
nor  is  it  less  distressing  to  hear  others  pleading  that  al- 
though the  Wyalusing  tribe  is  at  war  with  us,  yet  that 
part  of  it  which  is  under  the  protection  of  the  Government, 
may  be  friendly  to  the  English,  and  innocent.  In  what 
nation  under  the  sun  was  it  ever  the  custom  that  when  a 
neighboring  nation  took  up  arms,  not  an  individual  should 
be  touched  but  only  the  persons  that  offered  hostilities? 
Who  ever  proclaimed  war  with  a  part  of  a  nation,  and  not 
with  the  whole?  Had  these  Indians  Disapproved  of  the 
perfidy  of  their  tribe,  and  been  willing  to  cultivate  and 
preserve  friendship  with  us,  why  did  they  not  give  notice 
of  the  war  before  it  happened,  as  it  is  known  to  be  the 
result  of  long  deliberations  and  a  preconcerted  combina- 
tion among  them?  Why  did  they  not  leave  their  tribe 
immediately,  and  come  among  us  before  there  was  ground 
to  suspect  them,  or  war  was   actually  waged  with  their 


APPENDIX  D  579 

tribe?  No,  they  stayed  amongst  them,  where  privy  to  their 
murders  and  revenges,  until  we  had  destroyed  their  pro- 
visions, and  when  they  could  no  longer  subsist  at  home, 
they  come,  not  as  deserters,  but  as  friends,  to  be  main- 
tained through  the  winter,  that  they  may  be  able  to  scalp 
and  butcher  us  in  the  spring. 

"And  as  to  the  Moravian  Indians,  there  are  strong 
grounds  at  least  to  suspect  their  friendship,  as  it  is  known 
they  carried  on  a  correspondence  with  our  enemies  on  the 
Great  Island.  We  killed  three  Indians  going  from  Bethle- 
hem to  the  Great  Island  with  blankets,  ammunition,  and 
Provisions,  which  is  an  undeniable  proof  that  the  Moravian 
Indians  were  in  confederacy  with  our  open  enemies;  and 
we  cannot  but  be  filled  with  indignation  to  hear  this  action 
of  ours  painted  in  the  most  odious  and  detestable  colors,  as 
if  we  had  inhumanly  murdered  our  guides,  who  preserved 
us  from  perishing  in  the  woods,  when  we  only  killed  three 
of  our  known  enemies,  who  attempted  to  shoot  us  when  we 
surprised  them.  And,  besides  all  this,  we  understand  that 
one  of  these  very  Indians  is  proved,  by  oath  of  Stinson's 
widow,  to  be  the  very  person  that  murdered  her  husband. 
How,  then,  comes  it  to  pass  that  he  alone,  of  all  the 
Moravian  Indians,  should  join  the  enemy  to  murder  that 
family?  Or  can  it  be  supposed  that  any  enemy  Indians, 
contrary  to  their  known  custom  of  making  war,  should 
penetrate  into  the  heart  of  a  settled  country  to  burn, 
plunder,  and  murder  the  inhabitants,  and  not  molest  any 
houses  in  their  return,  or  ever  to  be  seen  or  heard  of?  Or 
how  can  we  account  for  it,  that  no  ravages  have  been  com- 
mitted in  Northampton  County  since  the  removal  of  the 
Moravian  Indians,  when  the  Great  Cove  has  been  struck 
since?  These  things  put  it  beyond  doubt  with  us  that  the 
Indians  now  at  Philadelphia  are  his  Majesty's  Perfidious 
enemies,  and,  therefore,  to  protect  and  maintain  them  at 
the  public  expense,  while  our  suffering  brethren  on  the 
frontiers   are   almost  destitute  of  the   necessaries   of  life, 


580  APPENDIX  D 

and  are  neglected  by  the  public,  is  sufficient  to  make  us 
mad  with  rage,  and  tempt  us  to  do  what  nothing  but  the 
most  violent  necessity  can  vindicate.  We  humbly  and 
earnestly  pray,  therefore,  that  those  enemies  of  his 
Majesty  may  be  removed  as  soon  as  possible  out  of  the 
Province. 

"Fourthly.  We  humbly  conceive  that  it  is  contrary  to 
the  maxims  of  good  policy,  and  extremely  dangerous  to 
our  frontiers,  to  suffer  any  Indians,  of  what  tribe  soever,  to 
live  within  the  inhabited  parts  of  this  Province  while  we 
are  engaged  in  an  Indian  war,  as  experience  has  taught  us 
that  they  are  all  perfidious,  and  their  claim  to  freedom 
and  independency  puts  it  in  their  power  to  act  as  spies,  to 
entertain  and  give  intelligence  to  our  enemies,  and  to  fur- 
nish them  with  provisions  and  warlike  stores.  To  this  fatal 
intercourse  between  our  pretended  friends  and  open  ene- 
mies, we  must  ascribe  the  greatest  of  the  ravages  and 
murders  that  have  been  committed  in  the  course  of  this 
and  the  last  Indian  war.  We,  therefore,  pray  that  this 
grievance  be  taken  under  consideration  and  remedied. 

"Fifthly.  We  cannot  help  lamenting  that  no  provision 
has  been  hitherto  made,  that  such  of  our  frontier  inhabi- 
tants as  have  been  wounded  in  defence  of  the  Province, 
their  lives  and  liberties,  may  be  taken  care  of,  and  cured  of 
their  wounds  at  the  public  expence.  We,  therefore,  pray 
that  this  grievance  may  be  redressed. 

"Sixthly.  In  the  late  Indian  war,  this  Province,  with 
others  of  his  Majesty's  colonies,  gave  rewards  for  Indian 
scalps,  to  encourage  the  seeking  them  in  their  own  county, 
as  the  most  likely  means  of  destroying  or  reducing  them  to 
reason,  but  no  such  encouragement  has  been  given  in  this 
war,  which  has  damped  the  spirits  of  many  brave  men,  who 
are  willing  to  venture  their  lives  in  parties  against  the 
enemy.  We,  therefore,  pray  that  public  rewards  may  be 
proposed  for  Indian  scalps,  which  may  be  adequate  to  the 
dangers  attending  enterprizes  of  this  nature. 


APPENDIX  D  581 

"Seventhly.  We  daily  lament  that  numbers  of  our  near- 
est and  dearest  relatives  are  still  in  captivity  among  the 
savage  heathen,  to  be  trained  up  in  all  their  ignorance  and 
barbarity,  or  to  be  tortured  to  death  with  all  the  contriv- 
ances of  Indian  cruelty,  for  attempting  to  make  their 
escape  from  bondage;  we  see  they  pay  no  regard  to  the 
many  solemn  promises  they  have  made  to  restore  our 
friends  who  are  in  bondage  amongst  them.  We,  therefore, 
earnestly  pray  that  no  trade  may  hereafter  be  permitted 
to  be  carried  on  with  them  until  our  brethren  and  relatives 
are  brought  home  to  us. 

"Eighthly.  We  complain  that  a  certain  society  of  peo- 
ple in  this  Province,  in  the  late  Indian  War,  and  at  several 
treaties  held  by  the  King's  representatives,  openly  loaded 
the  Indians  with  presents,  and  that  J.  P.,  a  leader  of  the 
said  society,  in  defiance  of  all  government,  not  only  abet- 
ted our  Indian  enemies,  but  kept  up  a  private  intelligence 
with  them,  and  publicly  received  from  them  a  belt  of 
wampum,  as  if  he  had  been  our  Governor,  or  authorized  by 
the  King  to  treat  with  his  enemies.  By  this  means  the 
Indians  have  been  taught  to  despise  us  as  a  weak  and 
disunited  people,  and  from  this  fatal  source  have  arose 
many  of  our  calamities  under  which  we  groan.  We  humbly 
pray,  therefore,  that  this  grievance  may  be  redressed,  and 
that  no  private  subject  be  hereafter  permitted  to  treat 
with,  or  carry  on  a  correspondence  with,  our  enemies. 

"Ninthly.  We  cannot  but  observe  with  sorrow,  that 
Fort  Augusta,  which  has  been  very  expensive  to  this 
Province,  has  afforded  us  but  little  assistance  during  this 
or  the  last  war.  The  men  that  were  stationed  at  that 
place  neither  helped  our  distressed  inhabitants  to  save 
their  crops,  nor  did  they  attack  our  enemies  in  their  towns, 
or  patrol  on  our  frontiers.  We  humbly  request  that  proper 
measures  may  be  taken  to  make  that  garrison  more  service- 
able to  us  in  our  distress,  if  it  can  be  done, 


582  APPENDIX  D 

"N.  B. — We  are  far  from  intending  and  reflection 
against  the  commanding  officer  stationed  at  Augusta,  as 
we  presume  his  conduct  was  always  directed  by  those  from 
whom  he  received  his  orders. 

"Signed  on  behalf  of  ourselves,  and  by  appointment  of 
a  great  number  of  the  frontier  inhabitants. 

"Matthew    Smith, 
"James  Gibson. 
"February  13th,  1764." 


APPENDIX  E 

GALLOWAY'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  AMERICAN 

REVOLT 

The  following  is  extracted  from  Historical  and  Political 
Reflections,  by  Joseph  Galloway;  London:     1780: 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1764,  a  convention  of  the 
ministers  and  elders  of  the  Presbyterian  congregations  in 
Philadelphia  wrote  a  circular  letter  to  all  the  Presbyterian 
congregations  in  Pennsylvania,  and  with  it  enclosed  the 
proposed  articles  of  union.  The  reasons  assigned  in  them 
are  so  novel,  so  futile,  and  absurd,  and  the  design,  of  ex- 
citing that  very  rebellion,  of  which  the  congregationalists 
of  New  England,  and  the  Presbyterians  in  all  the  other 
Colonies  are  at  this  moment  the  only  support,  is  so  clearly 
demonstrated,  that  I  shall  make  no  apology  for  giving  them 
to  the  Reader  at  full  length,  without  any  comment: 

The  Circular  Letter  and  Articles  of  "Some  Gentle- 
men of  the  Presbyterian  Denomination/*  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Pennsylvania. 

Philadelphia,  March  24,  1764. 
Sir,  The  want  of  union  and  harmony  among  those 
of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  has  been  long  ob- 
served, and  greatly  lamented  by  every  public-spirited 
person  of  our  society.  Notwithstanding  we  are  so 
numerous  in  the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  we  are 
considered  as  nobody,  or  a  body  of  very  little  strength 
and  consequence,  so  that  any  encroachments  upon  our 
essential  and  charter  privileges  may  be  made  by  evil- 
minded  persons  who  think  that  they  have  little  fear 
from  any  opposition  that  can  be  made  to  their  measures 
by  us.  Nay,  some  denominations  openly  insult  us  as 
acting  without  plan   or   design,   quarreling   with   one 

583 


584  APPENDIX  E 

another,  and  seldom  uniting  together,  even  to  promote 
the  most  salutary  purposes:  And  thus  they  take  oc- 
casion to  misrepresent  and  asperse  the  whole  body  of 
Presbyterians,  on  the  account  of  the  indiscreet  con- 
duct of  individuals  belonging  to  us. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  wished  that  we  could  devise  some 
plan  that  would  cut  off  even  the  least  grounds  for  such 
aspersions,  that  would  enable  us  to  prevent  the  bad 
conduct  of  our  members,  and  that  would  have  a  ten- 
dency to  unite  us  more  closely  together;  so  that,  when 
there  may  be  a  necessity  to  act  as  a  body,  we  may  be 
able  to  do  it  whenever  we  may  be  called  to  defend  our 
civil  or  religious  liberties  and  privileges,  which  we 
may  enjoy,  or  to  obtain  any  of  which  we  may  be 
abridged. 

"A  number  of  gentlemen  in  this  city,  in  conjunction 
with  the  clergymen  of  our  denomination  here,  have 
thought  the  enclosed  plan  may  be  subservient  to  this 
desirable  purpose,  if  it  be  heartily  adopted  and  prose- 
cuted by  our  brethren  in  this  province,  and  three 
lower  counties ;  and  in  this  view  we  beg  leave  to  recom- 
mend it  to  you.  It  cannot  possibly  do  any  hurt  to  us, 
and  it  will  beyond  doubt  make  us  a  more  respectable 
body.  We  therefore  cannot  but  promise  ourselves 
your  hearty  concurrence  from  your  known  public 
spirit,  and  desire  to  assist  anything  that  may  have  a 
tendency  to  promote  the  union  and  welfare  of  so- 
ciety, and  the  general  good  of  the  community,  to 
which  we  belong. 

We  are  yours,  &c." 

The  Plan  or  Articles 

Some  gentlemen  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination, 
having  seriously  considered  the  necessity  of  a  more 
close  union  among  ourselves,  in  order  to  enable  us  to 
act  as  a  body  with  unanimity  and  harmony  &c.  have 
unanimously  adopted  the  following  plan  viz.: 

1st,  That  a  few  gentlemen  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia with  the  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  de- 
nomination there,  be  chosen  to  correspond  with  their 
friends  in  different  parts,  to  give  and  to  receive  ad- 
vices, and  to  consult  what  things  may  have  a  tendency 
to  promote  our  union  and  welfare,  either  as  a  body, 


APPENDIX  E  5 

or  as  we  are  connected  together  in  particular  congre- 
gations, so  far  as  it  will  consist  with  our  duty  to  the 
best  of  Kings,  and  our  subjection  to  the  laws  of 
Government. 

2d,  That  a  number  of  the  most  prudent  and  public- 
spirited  persons  in  each  district  in  the  province,  and 
those  lower  counties,  be  chosen  with  the  ministers  in 
said  districts,  to  correspond  in  like  manner  with  one 
another,  and  with  the  gentlemen  appointed  for  this 
purpose  in  Philadelphia;  or 

3d,  That  the  same  be  done  in  each  congregation  or 
district  where  there  is  no  minister;  a  neighboring 
minister  meeting  with  them  as  oft  as  it  is  convenient 
and  necessary. 

4th,  That  a  person  shall  be  appointed  in  each  com- 
mittee thus  formed  who  shall  sign  a  letter  in  the 
name  of  the  committee,  and  to  whom  letters  shall  be 
directed,  who  shall  call  the  committee  together,  and 
communicate  to  them  what  advice  is  received,  that 
they  may  consult  together  what  is  best  to  be  done. 

5th,  That  one  or  more  members  be  sent  by  the 
committee  in  each  county  or  district,  yearly  or  half- 
yearly,  to  a  general  meeting  of  the  whole  body,  to 
consult  together  what  is  necessary  for  the  advantage 
of  the  body,  and  to  give  their  advice  in  any  affairs 
that  relate  to  particular  congregations ;  and  that  on 
stated  meeting  of  said  delegates  be  on  the  last  Tues- 
day of  August  yearly. 

6th,  That  the  place  of  the  general  meeting  be  at 
Philadelphia  or  Lancaster,  on  the  last  Tuesday  of 
August,  1764. 

7  th,  That  each  committee  transmit  to  the  commit- 
tee in  Philadelphia  their  names  and  numbers,  with 
what  alterations  may  at  any  time  be  made  in  them. 

8th,  That  the  committee  in  town  consist  of  ministers 
of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  in  this  city,  and  Mr. 
Treat,  together  with 

Mess.   Samuel  Smith  Mess.   T.  Montgomery 

Alex  Huston  Andrew  Hodge 

George  Brian  John  Redman 

John  Allen  Jed  Snowden 

William  Allison  Isaac  Snowden 

H.  Williamson  Robert  Harris 


586  APPENDIX  E 

Mess.  Thomas  Smith  Mess.  Wm.  Humphreys 

Sam  Purviance  John  Wallace 

John  Merse  T.    Macpherson 

H.  McCullough  John  Bayard 

P.  Chevalier,  jun.  John  Wikoff 

Isaac  Smith  William  Rust 

Charles  Petit  S.  Purviance,  jun. 
William  Henry 

In  consequence  of  this  letter,  an  union  of  all  the  Pres- 
byterian congregations  immediately  took  place  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  Lower  Counties.  A  like  confederacy  was 
established  in  all  the  Southern  Provinces,  in  pursuance  of 
similar  letters  wrote  by  their  respective  conventions.  These 
letters  were  long  buried  in  strictest  secrecy.  Their  design 
was  not  sufficiently  matured,  and  therefore  not  proper  for 
publication.  Men  of  sense  and  foresight,  were  alarmed 
at  so  formidable  a  confederacy,  without  knowing  the  ulti- 
mate extent  of  their  views;  however,  at  length,  in  the  year 
1769,  the  letters  from  the  conventions  of  Philadelphia  and 
New  York  were  obtained  and  published. 

A  union  of  Presbyterian  force  being  thus  established  in 
each  Province,  these  projectors  then  took  salutary  steps 
(as  they  were  called  in  a  letter  from  one  of  the  Com- 
mittee at  Philadelphia  to  his  friend)  to  get  the  whole  Pres- 
byterian interest  on  the  Continent  more  firmly  united. 
These  steps  ended  in  the  establishment  of  an  annual  Synod 
at  Philadelphia.  Here  all  the  Presbyterian  congregations 
in  the  Colonies  are  represented  by  their  respective  minis- 
ters and  elders.  In  this  Synod  all  their  general  affairs, 
political  as  well  as  religious,  are  debated  and  decided. 
From  hence  their  orders  and  decrees  are  issued  throughout 
America;  and  to  them  as  ready  and  implicit  obedience  is 
paid  as  is  due  to  the  authority  of  any  sovereign  power 
whatever. 

But  they  did  not  stop  here;  the  principal  matter  recom- 
mended by  the  faction  in  New  England,  was  an  union  of 
the  congregational  and  Presbyterian  interest  throughout  the 


APPENDIX  E  587 

colonies.  To  effect  this,  a  negotiation  took  place  which 
ended  in  the  appointment  of  a  standing  committee  of  cor- 
respondence with  powers  to  communicate  and  consult,  on 
all  occasions,  with  a  like  committee  appointed  by  the  con- 
gregational churches  in  New  England.  Thus  the  Presby- 
terians in  the  Southern  Colonies  who  while  unconnected  in 
their  several  congregations,  were  of  little  significance,  were 
raised  into  weight  and  consequence,  and  a  dangerous  com- 
bination of  men,  whose  principles  of  religion  and  polity 
were  equally  averse  to  those  of  the  established  Church  and 
Government  was  formed. 

United  in  this  manner  throughout  the  Colonies,  those 
republican  sectaries  were  prepared  to  oppose  the  Stamp 
Act,  before  the  time  of  its  commencement,  and  yet  sensible 
of  their  own  inability  without  the  aid  of  others,  no  acts  or 
pains  were  left  unessayed  to  make  converts  of  the  rest 
of  the  people;  but  all  their  industry  was  attended  with 
little  success.  The  members  of  the  Church  of  England, 
Methodists,  Quakers,  Lutherans,  Calvinists,  Moravians, 
and  other  dissenters  were  in  general  averse  to  every  mea- 
sure which  tended  to  violence.  Some  few  of  them  were,  by 
various  arts,  and  partial  interests,  prevailed  on  to  unite 
with  them!  and  those  were  either  lawyers  or  merchants, 
who  thought  their  professional  business  would  be  affected 
by  the  act,  or  bankrupt  planters,  who  were  overwhelmed  in 
debt  to  their  British  factors.  But  the  republicans,  pre- 
determined in  their  measures,  were  unanimous.  It  was 
these  men  who  excited  the  mobs,  and  led  them  to  destroy  the 
stamped  paper;  who  compelled  the  collectors  of  the  duties 
to  resign  their  offices,  and  to  pledge  their  faith  that  they 
would  not  execute  them;  and  it  was  these  men  who  pro- 
moted, and  for  a  time  enforced  the  non-importation  agree- 
ment and  by  their  personal  applications,  threats,  insults, 
and  inflammatory  publications  and  petitions,  led  the  As- 
semblies to  deny  the  authority  of  Parliament  to  tax  the 
Colonies,  in  their  several  remonstrances. 


APPENDIX  F 

THE  MECKLENBURG  RESOLVES 

Charlotte-Town,  Mecklenburg  County,  May  31,  1775. 

This  day  the  Committee  of  this  county  met,  and  passed 
the  following  Resolves: 

WHEREAS  by  an  Address  presented  to  his  Majesty  by 
both  Houses  of  Parliament,  in  February  last,  the  American 
colonies  are  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  actual  rebellion,  we 
conceive,  that  all  laws  and  commissions  confirmed  by,  or 
derived  from  the  authority  of  the  King  or  Parliament,  are 
annulled  and  vacated,  and  the  former  civil  constitution  of 
these  colonies,  for  the  present,  wholly  suspended.  To 
provide,  in  some  degree,  for  the  exigencies  of  this  country, 
in  the  present  alarming  period,  we  deem  it  proper  and 
necessary  to  pass  the  following  Resolves,  viz. 

I — That  all  commissions,  civil  and  military,  heretofore 
granted  by  the  Crown,  to  be  exercised  in  these  colonies,  are 
null  and  void,  and  the  constitution  of  each  particular  colony 
wholly  suspended. 

II — That  the  Provincial  Congress  of  each  province,  un- 
der the  direction  of  the  great  Continental  Congress,  is  in- 
vested with  all  legislative  and  executive  powers  within  their 
respective  provinces;  and  that  no  other  legislative  or  ex- 
ecutive power,  does,  or  can  exist,  at  this  time,  in  any  of 
these  colonies. 

Ill — As  all  former  laws  are  now  suspended  in  this 
province,  and  the  Congress  have  not  yet  provided  others, 
we  judge  it  necessary,  for  better  preservation  of  good  order, 
to  form  certain  rules  and  regulations  for  the  internal 
government  of  this  county,  until  laws  shall  be  provided  for 
us  by  the  Congress. 

588 


APPENDIX  F  589 

IV — That  the  inhabitants  of  this  county  do  meet  on  a 
certain  day  appointed  by  this  Committee,  and  having 
formed  themselves  into  nine  companies,  (to  wit)  eight  in 
the  county,  and  one  in  the  town  of  Charlotte,  do  chuse  a 
Colonel  and  other  military  officers,  who  shall  hold  and 
exercise  their  several  powers  by  virtue  of  this  choice,  and 
independent  of  the  Crown  of  Great-Britain,  and  former 
constitution  of  this  province. 

V — That  for  the  better  preservation  of  the  peace  and 
administration  of  justice,  each  of  those  companies  do 
chuse  from  their  own  body,  two  discreet  freeholders,  who 
shall  be  empowered,  each  by  himself  and  singly,  to  decide 
and  determine  all  matters  of  controversy,  arising  within 
said  company,  under  the  sum  of  twenty  shillings;  and 
jointly  and  together,  all  controversies  under  the  sum  of 
forty  shillings;  yet  so  as  that  their  decisions  may  admit  of 
appeal  to  the  Convention  of  the  Select-Men  of  the  county; 
and  also  that  any  one  of  these  men,  shall  have  power  to 
examine  and  commit  to  confinement  persons  accused  of 
pettit  larceny. 

VI — That  those  two  Select-Men.  thus  chosen,  do  jointly 
and  together  chuse  from  the  body  of  their  particular  com- 
pany, two  persons  properly  qualified  to  act  as  Constables, 
who  may  assist  them  in  the  execution  of  their  office. 

VII — That  upon  the  complaint  of  any  persons  to  either 
of  these  Select-Men,  he  do  issue  his  warrant,  directed  to  the 
Constable,  commanding  him  to  bring  the  aggressor  before 
him  or  them,  to  answer  said  complaint. 

VIII — That  these  eighteen  Select-Men,  thus  appointed, 
do  meet  every  third  Thursday  in  January,  April,  July,  and 
October,  at  the  Court-House,  in  Charlotte,  to  hear  and 
determine  all  matters  of  controversy,  for  sums  exceeding 
forty  shillings,  also  appeals;  and  in  cases  of  felony,  to 
commit  the  person  or  persons  convicted  thereof  to  close 
confinement,  until  the  Provincial  Congress  shall  provide 
and  establish  laws  and  modes  of  proceeding  in  all  such 
cases. 


590  APPENDIX  F 

IX — That  these  eighteen  Select-Men,  thus  convened,  do 
chuse  a  Clerk,  to  record  the  transactions  of  said  Conven- 
tion, and  that  said  clerk,  upon  the  application  of  any  person 
or  persons  aggrieved,  do  issue  his  warrant  to  one  of  the 
Constables  of  the  company  to  which  the  offender  belongs, 
directing  said  Constable  to  summons  and  warn  said  offender 
to  appear  before  the  Convention,  at  their  next  sitting,  to 
answer  the  aforesaid  complaint. 

X — That  any  person  making  complaint  upon  oath,  to  the 
Clerk,  or  any  member  of  the  Convention,  that  he  has 
reason  to  suspect,  that  any  person  or  persons  indebted  to 
him,  in  a  sum  above  forty  shillings,  intend  clandestinely  to 
withdraw  from  the  county,  without  paying  such  debt,  the 
Clerk  or  such  member  shall  issue  his  warrant  to  the  Con- 
stable, commanding  him  to  take  said  person  or  persons  into 
safe  custody,  until  the  next  sitting  of  the  Convention. 

XI — That  when  a  debtor  for  a  sum  below  forty  shillings 
shall  abscond  and  leave  the  county,  the  warrant  granted  as 
aforesaid,  shall  extend  to  any  goods  or  chattels  of  said 
debtor,  as  may  be  found,  and  such  goods  or  chattels  be 
seized  and  held  in  custody  by  the  Constable,  for  the  space 
of  thirty  days;  in  which  time,  if  the  debtor  fail  to  return 
and  discharge  the  debt,  the  Constable  shall  return  the 
warrant  to  one  of  the  Select-Men  of  the  company,  where 
the  goods  are  found,  who,  shall  issue  orders  to  the  Con- 
stable to  sell  such  a  part  of  said  goods,  as  shall  amount 
to  the  sum  due:  That  when  the  debt  exceeds  forty  shil- 
lings, the  return  shall  be  made  to  the  Convention,  who 
shall  issue  orders  for  sale. 

XII — That  all  receivers  and  collectors  of  quit-rents, 
public  and  county  taxes,  do  pay  the  same  into  the  hands 
of  the  chairman  of  this  Committee,  to  be  by  them  dis- 
bursed as  the  public  exigencies  may  require;  and  such  re- 
ceivers and  collectors  proceed  no  further  in  their  office, 
until  they  be  approved  of  by,  and  have  given  to,  this 
Committee,  good  and  sufficient  security,  for  a  faithful  re- 
turn of  such  monies  when  collected. 


APPENDIX  F  591 

XIII — That  the  Committee  be  accountable  to  the  county 
for  the  application  of  all  monies  received  from  such  public 
officers. 

XIV — That  all  these  officers  hold  their  commissions  dur- 
ing the  pleasure  of  their  several  constituents. 

XV — That  this  Committee  will  sustain  all  damages  that 
ever  hereafter  may  accrue  to  all  or  any  of  these  officers 
thus  appointed,  and  thus  acting,  on  account  of  their  obed- 
ience and  conformity  to  these  Resolves. 

XVI — That  whatever  person  shall  hereafter  receive  a 
commission  from  the  Crown,  or  attempt  to  exercise  any 
such  commission  heretofore  received,  shall  be  deemed  an 
enemy  to  his  country,  and  upon  information  being  made 
to  the  Captain  of  the  company  in  which  he  resides,  the 
said  company  shall  cause  him  to  be  apprehended,  and  con- 
veyed before  two  Select-Men  of  the  said  company,  who 
upon  proof  of  the  fact,  shall  commit  him,  the  said  of- 
fender, to  safe  custody,  until  the  next  sitting  of  the  Com- 
mittee, who  shall  deal  with  him  as  prudence  may  direct. 

XVII — That  any  person  refusing  to  yield  obedience  to 
the  above  Resolves,  shall  be  considered  equally  criminal, 
and  liable  to  the  same  punishment,  as  the  offenders  above 
last  mentioned. 

XVIII — That  these  Resolves  be  in  full  force  and  virtue, 
until  instructions  from  the  Provincial  Congress,  regulating 
the  jurisprudence  of  the  province,  shall  provide  otherwise, 
or  the  legislative  body  of  Great-Britain,  resign  its  unjust 
and  arbitrary  pretentions  with  respect  to  America. 

XIX — That  the  eight  militia  companies  in  the  county, 
provide  themselves  with  proper  arms  and  accoutrements, 
and  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  execute  the  commands 
and  directions  of  the  General  Congress  of  this  province  and 
this  Committee. 

XX — That  the  Committee  appoint  Colonel  Thomas  Polk, 
and  Doctor  Joseph  Kenedy,  to  purchase  300  lb.  of  powder, 
600  lb.  of  lead,  1000  flints,  for  the  use  of  the  militia  of 


1 


592  APPENDIX  F 

this  county,  and  deposit  the  same  in  such  place  as  the 
Committee  may  hereafter  direct. 
Signed  by  order  of  the  Committee, 

EPH.  BREVARD,  Clerk  of  the  Committee. 


LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED 

Adair,    P.     A    True    Narrative    of   the    Presbyterian    Church    in 

Ireland. 
Adams,  H.    History  of  the  United  States. 

Alexander,  S.  D.     The  Presbytery  of  New  York,  1738  to  1888. 
American  Archives. 
Avery,  E.  M.     History  of  the  United  States. 

Bagwell,  R.     Ireland  Under  the  Stuarts. 

Bancroft,  G.     History  of  the  United  States. 

Blenerhassett,  T.     A  Direction  for  the  Plantation  of  Ulster. 

Bolles,  A.     Pennsylvania:    Province  and  State. 

Bolton,  C.  K.     Scotch-Irish  Pioneers  in  Ulster  and  America. 

Bowen,  L.  P.     The  Days  of  Makemie. 

Briggs,  C.  A.     American  Presbyterianism. 

Burke,  E.     Account  of  the  European  Settlements  in  America. 

Bury,  J.  B.    Life  of  St.  Patrick. 

Calendar  of  State  Papers.    America  and  West  Indies. 

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Calvin,  J.     Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion. 
Cambridge  Modern  History. 
Campbell,  C.     History  of  Virginia. 
Carson,  J.    The  Cahans  Exodus. 

Chalmers,  G.     Political  Annals  of  the  present  United  Colonies. 
Chamberlain,  M.    John  Adams  and  Other  Essays. 
Chambers,  G.     Irish  and  Scotch  Early  Settlers  of  Pennsylvania. 
Collins,  V.  L.     Princeton. 

Craighead,  J.  G.     Scotch  and  Irish  Seeds  in  American  Soil. 
Centenary   Memorial   of   the    Planting    and    Growth    of    Presby- 
terianism in  Western  Pennsylvania. 

Davidson,  R.     History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  State 

of  Kentucky. 
Davis,  W.  W.  H.     History  of  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania. 
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Doddridge,    J.     Settlement    and    Indian    Wars    of    Virginia    and 

Pennsylvania. 

593 


594  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED 

Doyle,  J.  A.     The  English  in  America. 
Dwight,  N.    The  Lives  of  the  Signers. 

Egle,  W.  H.    History  of  Pennsylvania. 

Encyclopaedia  Brittanica. 

Etting,  F,  M.     Independence  Hall. 

Falkiner,  C.  L.     Illustrations  of  Irish  History  and  Topography. 
Fisher,  S.  G.     The  Making  of  Pennsylvania. 
Fiske,  J.     The  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies  in  America. 
Foote,   W.   H.     Sketches   of  Virginia. 

1     Sketches  of  North  Carolina. 

Franklin,  B.     Works  Edited  by  J.  Sparks. 
Friedenwald,  H.     The  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Gardiner,  S.  R.     History  of  England. 
Gordon,  T.  F.     History  of  Pennsylvania. 

Graham,   G.   W.   and   A.     The   Mecklenburg   Declaration   of   In- 
dependence. 
Green,  A.    Discourses  Delivered  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
Green,  A.  S.     Irish  Nationality. 
Green,  S.  S.     The  Scotch-Irish  in  America. 

Hanna,   C.   A.    The  Scotch-Irish. 

,    The  Wilderness  Trail. 

Hamilton,    W.    F.    and    others.     History    of   the    Presbytery    of 

Washington. 
Harting,  J.  E.     Extinct  British  Animals. 
Hawks,    F.    L.     Contributions    to    the    Ecclesiastical    History   of 

the  United  States. 
Henderson,  T.  F.     Scottish  Vernacular  Literature. 
Heron,  J.     A  Short  History  of  Puritanism. 
Hewatt,   A.     Historical   Account   of  the   Rise   and   Progress   of 

the  Colonies  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 
Hickson,  M.     Ireland  in  the  Seventeenth  Century. 
Hill,  G.     The  Plantation  in  Ulster. 
Hodge,    C.     Constitutional    History    of   the    Presbyterian    Church 

in  the  United  States. 
Holmes,  A.    The  Annals  of  America. 
Howarth,  O.  J.  R.     A  Geography  of  Ireland. 
Howe,  G.     History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  South  Carolina. 
Howe,  H.     Historical  Collections  of  Virginia. 
Hoyt,  W.  H.    The  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence. 


LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED  595 

Hutchinson,  T.    History  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

Johnston,  A.    Connecticut. 
Journals  of  the  Continental  Congress. 

Kercheval,  S.     History  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia. 
Kernohan,  J.  W.    Two  Ulster  Parishes. 
Killen,  W.  D.    Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland. 

Lang,  A.    History  of  Scotland. 

Lanman,  C.  Biographical  Annals  of  the  United  States  Civil 
Government, 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H.  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. 

Lee,  F.  B.     New  Jersey  as  a  Colony  and  a  State. 

Lincoln,  C.  H.    The  Revolutionary  Movement  in  Pennsylvania. 

Livingston,  E.  B.     The  Livingstons  of  Livingston  Manor. 

Lossing,  B.  J.    Pictorial  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution. 

Macaulay,  T.  B.     History  of  England. 
M'Crie,  T.     Autobiography  and  Life  of  Robert  Blair. 
McIlvain,  J.  W.     Early  Settlements  in  Maryland. 
Mayer,  B.     Logan  and  Cresap. 

Michael,  W.  H.     The  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Morgan,  L.  H.    Ancient  Society. 

Morley,  H.     Ireland  Under  Elizabeth  and  James  I. 
Myers,  A.  C.    The  Immigration  of  the  Irish  Quakers  into  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Neal,  D.     The  History  of  the  Puritans. 
Nevin,  A.     Churches  of  the  Valley. 

,    Encyclopaedia  of  the   Presbyterian   Church. 

,    Men  of  Mark  of  Cumberland  Valley,  Pennsylvania. 

Palfrey,  J.  G.     History  of  New  England. 

Parker,  E.  L.     History  of  Londonderry. 

Penhallow,    S.     History    of   the    Wars    of    New    England    with 

the  Eastern  Indians. 
Pennsylvania  Archives. 
Pennsylvania  Scotch-Irish  Society.     Reports  beginning  1890  and 

continued  since. 
Perry,  A.  L.    The  Scotch-Irish  in  New  England. 
Presbytery  of  Carlisle.     Centenary  Memorial. 
Princeton   University  General  Catalogue   1746-1906. 
Proud,  R.    History  of  Pennsylvania. 


596  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED 

Records  of  the  General  Synod  of  Ulster. 

Reed,  W.  B.     Life  and  Correspondence  of  Joseph  Reed. 

Register  of  the  Privy  Council  of  Scotland. 

Reid,  J.  S.     The  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland. 

Reid,  W.     The  Scot  in  America  and  the  Ulster  Scot. 

Roberts,  W.  H.     One  Hundred  Years  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 

in  America. 
Roosevelt,  T.     The  Winning  of  the  West. 

Sabine,  L.     American  Loyalists. 

Scotch-Irish  Society  of  America.  Ten  volumes  of  proceedings  of 
the  Congress   held  annually,   1889-1901  inclusive. 

Shaepless,  I.     A  Quaker  Experiment  in  Government. 

Sheafer,  P.  W.     Historical  Map  of  Pennsylvania. 

Sloane,  W.  M.     Princeton  in  American  History. 

Smith,  S.     History  of  the  Colony  of  New  Jersey. 

Spence,  I.     Early  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Stewart,  A.     A  Short  Account  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Stewart,  G.  B.  Centennial  Memorial  English  Presbyterian  Con- 
gregation, Harrisburg,  Pa. 

Stille,  C.  J.     The  Life  and  Times  of  John  Dickinson. 

Sullivan,  J.     History  of  the  District  of  Maine. 

Swope,  G.  E.     Big  Spring  Presbyterian  Church. 

Traill,  H.  D.     Social  England. 

,    Lord   Strafford. 

Turner,  D.  K.     History  of  Neshaminy  Presbyterian  Church. 
Tyler,  M.  C.     The  Literary  History  of  the  American  Revolution. 

Walpole,  C.  G.     The  Kingdom  of  Ireland. 
Watson,  J.  F.     Annals  of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania. 
Webster,  R.     History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America. 
Weeden,  W.  B.     Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England. 
Williams,  J.  R.     The  Handbook  of  Princeton. 
Williamson,  W.  D.     A  History  of  the  State  of  Maine. 
Winsor,  J.     Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America. 
Winthrop    Papers.      Massachusetts    Historical    Collections,    Sixth 

series. 
Wirt,  W.     Letters  of  the  British  Spy. 
Woodburn,  J.  B.    The  Ulster  Scot. 

Young,  A.     Tour  in  Ireland. 
Young,  R.  M.    Old  Belfast. 

Ziegler,  J.  L.     History  of  Donegal  Presbyterian  Church. 


INDEX 


Abercorn,  Earl  of,  100. 

Abercrombie,  Rev.  Robert,  355. 

Absolutism  in  government,  130- 
133. 

Adair,  Rev.  Patrick,  historian, 
103,  105. 

Adams,  C.  F.,  historian,  524. 

Adams,  H.  historian,  516. 

Adams,  John,  484,  486. 

Alans,  the,  50. 

Alexander,  Rev.  Joseph,  449. 

Alexander,  Sir  William,  92. 

Algerine  pirates,  97. 

Alleyne,  Capt.  George,  39. 

Allison,  Francis,  418,  481. 

Anderson,  Rev.  James,  360,  421. 

Andrews,  Rev.  Jedediah,  331, 
375. 

Angles,  the,  121. 

Argyle,  Earl  of,  85. 

Armstrong,  John,  on  Conestoga 
massacre,  310;  surveyor,  513; 
colonel  in  Indian  wars,  514; 
general  in  Revolutionary 
War,  514. 

Armstrong,  John,  Jr.,  aide  to 
Gen.  Mercer,  515;  adjutant- 
general,  515;  career  as  a 
statesman,  515;  secretary  of 
war,  516. 

Armagh,  Bishop  of,  35. 

Aubigny,  Lord,  117. 

Australia,  292. 

Bacon,  Lord,  on  Ulster  Plan- 
tation, 2-5,  advises  creation 
order  of  baronets,  7;  on  state 
of  Ireland,  55. 

Baker,  Lieut.,  defense  at  Derry, 
15. 

Balch,  Rev.  Hezekiah,  451. 

Ball,  Rev.  Eliphalet,  256. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  170,  171,  179, 
213. 

Baltimore,  sacked  by  pirates, 
97. 


Bancroft,  G.,  historian,  473. 

Barbados,  212,  214. 

Barbary  Coast,  97. 

Barbour,  Gov.,  393. 

Bards,  73. 

Baronets,  order  founded,  7. 

Baxter,  Richard,  171. 

Bayley,  Capt.  John,  168. 

Bedford,  Gunning,  440,  442. 

Belcher,  Gov.  Jonathan,  246, 
425-433. 

Belfast,  Presbytery,  148,  187. 

Bell,  John,  288. 

Blackmail,  64. 

Blaine,  Col.   Ephraim,  531. 

Blair,  Rev.  Robert,  historian, 
103,  165. 

Blenerhassett,  Thomas,  116. 

Board  of  Trade,  English,  sta- 
tistical returns,  210. 

Bolton,  Charles  K.,  historian, 
192. 

Bonner,  Robert,  538n. 

Borders,  suppression  of  lawless- 
ness in  the,  86-89,  102. 

Boswell,  James,  205,  464. 

Boudinot,  Elias,  446. 

Boyd,  Rev.  William,  190. 

Boulter,  Archbishop,  194. 

Brackenridge,  H.  H.,  440. 

Braddock's  defeat,  268,  303,  401. 

Braddock's  Trail,  269. 

Bradstreet,  Gov.,  181. 

Breckenridge  family,  536. 

Brehon  Laws,  2. 

Briggs,  C.  A.,  historian,  171, 
325,  332,  334,  336,  356,  362, 
367,  369. 

Bunker  Hill,  battle  of,  493. 

Burgoyne,  Gen.,  502-506. 

Burke,  Edmund,  199. 

Burr,  Rev.  Aaron,  424,  427. 

Bury,  J.  B.,  historian,  50. 

Byram,  Rev.  Eliab,  385, 


Cahans    Exodus,    253. 


597 


598 


INDEX 


Cain,  43. 

Caldwell,  Rev.  David,  449. 

Caldwell,  James,  500. 

Caldwell,  Samuel,  500. 

Calvin,  John,  137,  329. 

Camden,  William,  65. 

Campbell,  Gov.  J.  E.,  537n. 

Campbell,  Capt.  Lauchlin,  252. 

Campbell,  Col.  William,  508. 

Canassatego,  Indian  chief,  317. 

Cannibalism,   207. 

Canute,  King,  52. 

Carew  Papers,  37-40. 

Car  rick,  Rev.  Samuel,  451. 

Carson,  John,  288. 

Caulfield,  Sir  Toby,  116. 

Cecil,  Sec'y  of  state,  2,  22. 

Celtic   Culture,   45-49,  51. 

Celts,  46,  50,  120. 

Census  Bureau  nationality  sta- 
tistics, 219. 

Chalmers,  George,  historian, 
215. 

Charlemagne,  52. 

Charles  I,  142,  146. 

Charles  II,  154,  176. 

Cherry  Valley  massacre,  257. 

Chichester,  Sir  Arthur,  early 
career,  16;  Lord  Deputy  of 
Ireland,  17;  characteristics, 
18;  recommends  Ulster  Plan- 
tation, 21;  reviews  the  situa- 
tion, 24;  remarks  on  London 
agents,  31;  on  comynes,  61; 
his  liberal  policy,  76;  deports 
swordmen,  78-80;  on  Planta- 
tion prospects,  78,  79;  on 
piracy,  94;  on  character  of 
Undertakers,  119;  on  the  na- 
tive Irish,  121. 

Chronology  of  Ulster  Planta- 
tion, 40-41;  of  events  bear- 
ing on  Ulster,  162. 

Civilization,  21. 

Clinton,  Gen.,  502,  507,  527. 

Cobham,  Rev.  Thomas,  191. 

Coleraine  Presbytery,  191. 

Coleraine,  rebuilt  by  London 
guilds,  32;  plot  to  burn,  123. 

College  of  New  Jersey,  see 
Princeton. 

Colleges,  see  Educational  In- 
stitutions. 

Colman,  Rev.  Benjamin,  300, 
333. 


Comynes,  Irish  custom,  57,  58. 

Congregational  Church  absorbs 
Scotch-Irish  immigrants  in 
New  England,  345. 

Continental  Congress,  action 
respecting  Ireland,  460;  rec- 
ommends formation  State 
governments,  477 ;  adopts 
Declaration  of  Independence, 
486;  signatures  not  appended 
until  Aug.  2,  or  later,  488. 

Constitutional  Convention  of 
1787,  its  composition,  442. 

Convoy  Presbytery,  339. 

Cornbury,  Gov.  335. 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  471,  507,  510. 

Coronation  Stone,  its  history, 
44. 

Coshering,  61,  85. 

Counter-Reformation,  in  Ire- 
land, 9,  68-71,  161. 

Cowpens,  battle  of,  510. 

Cranstoun,  Sir  William,  86,  87. 

Creaghting,  60. 

Crete    43. 

Cromwellj  139,  148,  150. 

Cross,  Rev.  John,  421. 

Culmore,  fort  of,  14. 

Cumming,  Alexander,  418. 

Davie,  W.  R.,  442. 

Davies,  Sir  John,  early  career, 
15;  characteristics,  20,  24,  26; 
letter  to  Salisbury,  31;  on 
state  of  Ireland,  54;  on  land 
tenure,  58;  on  religion,  67; 
on  Irish  traits,  77. 

Davies,  Rev.  Samuel,  work  in 
Virginia,  386-389;  President 
of  Princeton,  389 ;  his  oratory, 
390;  collects  funds  for 
Princeton,  430;  death,  437. 

Davis,  Rev.  Samuel,  174. 

Davis,  W.  W.  H.,  historian, 
266n. 

Dayton,  Jonathan,  442. 

Dean,  Rev.  William,  385,  417. 

Declaration  of  Independence, 
first  step  taken  by  Mecklen- 
burg convention,  475;  move- 
ment in  Congress,  476;  action 
of  Pennsylvania  Assembly, 
478;  Thomas  McKean's  ac- 
tivity, 478;  Joseph  Reed's 
management,  479 ;  R.  H.  Lee's 


INDEX 


599 


resolution,        480;        Charles 

Thomson's  participation,  481; 

Declaration      adopted,      486 ; 

the  signers,  491. 
Denmark,  52,  74. 
Derry,  Bishop  of,   11,   18. 
Derry,   attacked  by  O'Dogher- 

ty,  14;   King's  plan  for,  29; 

London  guilds  to  rebuild,  32; 

plot  to  burn,   125;   seige   of, 

155. 
Derry  presbytery,  350. 
Devonshire,  Earl  of,  17. 
Dickinson,  John,  418,  482. 
Dickinson,  Rev.  Jonathan,  362, 

421,  424. 
Doak,   Rev.  John  M.,  451. 
Doak,  Rev.  Samuel,  450. 
Doak,  Rev.  Samuel  W.,  451. 
Dod,  Rev.  Thaddeus,  452. 
Doddridge,    Rev.    Joseph,    his- 
torian, 275,  296. 
Drake's  Expedition,  16. 
Dublin  University,  110. 
Dumbarton  Presbytery,  351. 
Dunbar,   Col.   David.,   245-247. 
Dunlap,  Alexander,  191. 
Dunlap,  John,  500. 
Dunlop,  Rev.  William,  378. 

Eagle  Wing,  ship,  165. 

Educational  Institutions,  Alle- 
gheny, 456;  Blount,  451; 
Bowdoin,  236;  Brown,  456; 
Centre,  452;  Chartiers,  453; 
Dickinson,  455;  Fagg's  Man- 
or, 418;  Franklin,  456; 
Greenville,  451 ;  Hampden 
Sidney,  447;  Jefferson,  277, 
454;  Kentucky,  452;  Log 
College,  367,  416,  424;  Mar- 
tin, 450;  New  Jersey,  421- 
446;  New  London,  Pa.,  418; 
North  Carolina,  449;  Not- 
tingham, 419 ;  Philadelphia, 
418;  Queen's,  449;  Thunder 
Hill,  418;  Transylvania,  451; 
Tusculum,  451 ;  Washington 
and  Jefferson,  455;  Washing- 
ton and  Lee,  449;  Western 
Reserve,  456;  Western,  455; 
Wooster,  456. 

Edwards,  Rev.  Jonathan,  398, 
437. 


Egle,  W.  H.,  historian,  316, 
324n. 

Elder,  Rev.  John,  advises  re- 
moval of  Conestoga  Indians, 
307;  account  of  massacre, 
308,  310. 

Elder,  Rev.  Thomas,  191. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  9,  54,  65,  73, 
115. 

Ellsworth,  Oliver,  441,  442. 

Encyclopaedia  Brittanica,  51. 

English  settlers,  119,  120,  127, 
145. 

Enniskillen,    155. 

Essex,  Earl  of,  17. 

Ewing,  Rev.  John,  letter  on 
Conestoga   massacre,   313. 

Exempt  farms,  227. 

Ferguson,  Capt.  James,  230. 

Ferguson,  Major  Patrick,  507- 
509. 

Figgis,   Mr.,    137. 

Finley,  John  H.,  N.  Y.  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  419. 

Finley,  Rev.  Samuel,  charged 
with  vagrancy,  345;  men- 
tioned, 384,  417;  President  of 
Princeton,  437. 

Fisher,  S.  G.,  historian,  276. 

Fitzgerald,  Rev.  Edward,  343. 

Fiske,  John,  historian,  520-523. 

Flight  of  the  Earls,  10,  22. 

"Flower  of  Yarrow,"  88. 

Forbes'  Route,  269. 

Ford,  P.  L.,  historian,  497. 

Fourth  of  July,  first  celebra- 
tion, 490. 

France,  97,    143,    155,   506. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  265,  274, 
373,  399,  406,  418,  459,  461. 

Franklin,  Mary,  190. 

French   Revolution,    131. 

Freneau,  Philip,  440,  529. 

Friedenwald,  H.,  historian, 
487n. 

Fuller,  Thomas,  historian,  326. 

Fulton,  Robert,  531. 

Gage,  Gen.,  312,  492. 

Galloglasses,  65. 

Galloway,   Joseph,   his   account 

of  American  Revolution,  466- 

469,  583. 


600 


INDEX 


Gardiner,  S.  R.,  historian,  144. 

Gates,  Gen.,  507. 

Gavelkind,  74. 

Genoa,  133. 

Gentlemen  Proprietors  of  East- 
ern Lands,  233. 

George  I.,  210. 

George  II.,  201,  211. 

Germany,   156. 

Gettysburg,  267,  273. 

Gibson,  James,  312. 

Gibson,  J.  B.,  chief -justice  of 
Penna.,  537. 

Gildas,  91. 

Glendennin,  Archibald,  297. 

Glendinning,  Ulster  fanatic, 
112,  113. 

Gnadenhutten  massacre,  266, 
303,  406. 

Goldsmith,   Oliver,   132. 

Gordon,  T.  F.,  historian,  315, 
318. 

Graham,  Rev.  William,  448. 

Gray,  Matthew,  ancestor  of 
Prof.  Asa  Gray,  229. 

Greece,  43. 

Green,  Alice  S.,  historian,  61. 

Green,  President  Ashbel,  421. 

Gregory  XIII.,  Pope,  9. 

Grindal,  Bishop,  326. 

Guiana,  21. 

Gypsies,  91, 

Hallam,   H.,  historian,   327. 
Hamiltqn,  John,  117. 
Hamilton,  Sir  James,  117. 
Hancock,  John,  487. 
Harsha,  Rev.  W.  W.,  253. 
Hart,  Capt.  Henry,  his  courage, 

13;  betrayed,  14. 
Hatfield,  historian,  423. 
Hawks,  F.  L.,  historian,  388. 
Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  245. 
Hay,  Sir  Alexander,  33. 
Hazard,  Ebenezer,  419. 
Hebrides,  96. 

Henderson,  T.  F.,  historian,  81. 
Henry  IV.,  of  France,  16. 
Henry  VIII.,  of   England,  53, 

64,  66. 
Henry,  Hugh,  418. 
Henry,  Patrick,  390,  397. 
Hepburn,  Sir  Robert,  90,  99. 
Herodotus,  46. 
Heron,  Rev.  James,  ethnic  ori- 


gins of  Scotch-Irish,  128n.,  555. 

Hewatt,  Rev.  Alexander,  his- 
torian, 217. 

Higginbothan,  Rev.  Robert,  191. 

Highlands  of  Scotland,  64. 

Hill,  Rev.  Matthew,  171. 

Hodge,  Rev.  C,  historian,  325, 
357,  371,  414. 

Holland,  97,  133,  141. 

Holmes,  A.,  annalist,  199. 

Homes,  Captain  Robert,  189. 

Homes,  Rev.   William,  189. 

Houston,  John,  member  Conti- 
nental Congress,  489,  490. 

Houston,  W.  C,  442. 

Howe,  Gen.,  502. 

Hoyt,  W.  H.,  historian,  475. 

Hughes,  John,  stamp  distribu- 
ter, 466. 

Hunt,  G.,  historian,  439,  443. 

Hunter,  James,  500. 

Hutchinson,  T.,  historian,  294, 
295. 

India,   72, 

Indians,  American,  Scotch-Irish 
as  barriers  against,  223-225; 
wars  in  Massachusetts,  226; 
wars  in  Maine,  230;  attacks 
on  Maine  settlements,  234- 
236 ;  frontier  forts,  280 ;  fron- 
tier experiences,  281;  Indian 
hostilities,  291-324;  personal 
traits,  293-295;  their  cruelty, 
295-298;  outrages  upon  wo- 
men, 295;  captives  adopted  in 
tribe,  299 ;  bounties  for  scalps, 
300,  305;  cost  of  New  Eng- 
land war,  301;  incursions  in 
Penna.,  303;  atrocities,  303; 
settlers  appeal  for  protection, 
304;  refugees  at  Shippens- 
burg,  306;  Moravian  Indians 
removed,  307;  complaints  of 
Conestoga  Indians,  307;  char- 
acter of  Pennsylvania  In- 
dians, 317;  outrages  encour- 
aged by  Quaker  policy,  318. 

Ireland,  Bacon  on,  2;  English 
policy  in,  3,  86 ;  social  and  po- 
litical conditions,  5;  Pope  ac- 
cepts Crown  for  nephew,  9; 
chiefs  quarrel,  10;  O'Dogher- 
ty's  insurrection,  13-15 ;  physi- 
cal   characteristics,    42;    le- 


INDEX 


601 


gendary  history,  43;  ancient 
commerce  with  Spain,  49; 
scholarship,  51;  archaic  so- 
cial structure,  52-58;  military 
prowess,  52;  nationality  a 
modern  concept,  52;  Norman 
invaders,  53;  the  Pale,  53;  di- 
vision into  counties  completed 
by  James  I.,  53;  ancient  land 
tenure,  56;  comynes,  57;  liv- 
ing conditions,  60,  61,  541; 
archaic  institutions,  63;  war- 
rior class,  63,  66;  illegitimacy, 
66;  religious  desolation,  66- 
68;  Counter-Reformation,  69; 
character  of  people,  71,  75; 
tribal  institutions,  77;  depre- 
dations of  pirates,  93-97;  na- 
tives remaining  in  Ulster,  121 ; 
become  tenants  of  Under- 
takers, 122;  civil  war,  144; 
beginning  of  a  new  era,  152; 
potato  culture,  152;  decline  in 
population,  152 ;  deportation 
of  natives,  153;  national  mis- 
ery, 156;  church  statistics, 
161;  commercial  restrictions, 
182-186 ;  American  friendli- 
ness, 459 ;  political  grievances, 
463. 

Irish  Established  Church,  129, 
130. 

Irish  Trot,  277. 

Irwin,  Gen.  William,  473. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  517,  519. 

James  I.,  makes  Ulster  Plan- 
tation, 1;  institutes  order  of 
baronets,  7;  mentioned,  77; 
energetic  measures  in  Scot- 
land, 86,  88;  selection  of  Un- 
dertakers, 98. 

James  II.,  155, 

Jesuits,  69. 

Johnson,  Sir  John,  258. 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  21,  89,  132, 
205,  464. 

Johnson,  Sir  William,  258. 

Josselyn's   voyages,   211. 

Keith,   George,  333. 
Kerdiffe,  Rev.  John,  145; 
Kerns,  Irish,  67,  116,  117. 
Killen,    W.    D.,    historian,    201, 
208. 


King's  Mountain,  battle  of,  509. 
Kittochtinny  Valley,  267. 
Knox,  Gen.  Henry,  early  career, 

511;    at    Bunker    Hill,    512; 

Yorktown,  512;   Secretary  of 

War,  513. 
Knox,  John,  534. 

Laggan    Presbytery,    172,    173, 

175,  176,  338. 
Lang,  Andrew,  historian,  80. 
Laud,  Archbishop,  129,  133. 
Laughlin,  Hugh,  288. 
Laurence,  Sir  Thomas,  180,  182. 
Law,  Capt.  James,  232. 
Lechmere,  Thomas,  193,  222-224, 

233. 
Lee,    R.    H.,    moves    resolution 

for  Independence,  480. 
Leech,  Rev.  William,  191. 
Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  historian,  59, 

153,   208,   459,   465,   472,   502, 

526,  534. 
Lewis,  Meriwether,  393. 
Lexington,  battle  of,  492. 
Ley,  chief- justice,  24. 
Lia  Fail,  44. 
Liberty  Bell  myth,  488n. 
Liberty,  religious,  138. 
Lindesay,  John,  256. 
Lindsay,  William,  288. 
Lippard,   George,  487n. 
Lithgow,  William,  traveler,  92. 
Livermore,   Samuel,  441. 
Living  conditions,  270,  278-285. 
Livingston,  Rev.  John,  108,  165; 

his     American     descendants, 

249. 
Livingston,  Chancellor,  531. 
Livingston,   Peter   Van   Brugh, 

trustee,  424. 
Livingston,  Robert  R.,  489. 
Lodge,  H.  C,  520. 
Logan,  James,  Provincial  Sec'y, 

264,  271,  275,  291. 
Logan,  James,  endows  Log  Col- 
lege, 416. 
Lockhart,  biographer,  61,  88. 
London,  City  of  26,  condition  in 

1610,   27;    King's    appeal,   28, 

29;  City's  action,  29-31;  joins 

in     Plantation,     32 ;     Ulster 

management,  125-127. 
Londonderry,        Ireland,        see 

Derry. 


INDEX 


Londonderry,  N.  H.,  207,  231, 
232,  234,  238,  244,  245. 

Londonderry  township,  N.  C, 
200. 

Lowlands  of  Scotland,  64,  82. 

Lusk,  Robert,  288. 

McAden,   Rev.   Hugh,  401. 

Macaulay,  historian,  155. 

MacCallum,  ship,  232-234. 

McClellan,  James,  ancestor  of 
Gen.  McClellan,  236. 

McClure,  Rev.  David,  275. 

McCormick,  Cyrus,  530. 

McCormick,  Samuel,  288. 

McCrea,  Rev.  James,  417. 

McDowell,  Col.  Charles,  508, 
509. 

McDowell,  Major  Joseph,  510. 

MacGregor,  clan,  84,  85. 

McGregor,  Rev.  David,  355. 

McGregor,  Rev.  James,  237. 

McGregor,  Robert,  244. 

McHenry,  James,  536. 

Mcllvaine,  Bishop,  412. 

McKean,  Thomas,  419,  478,  489. 

McKee,  Rev.  Josias,  178. 

McKeehan,  John,  288. 

McKendree,  Bishop,  412. 

McKinstry,  Rev.  John,  343. 

McKnight,  Charles,  440. 

McMillan,  Rev.  John,  452. 

McMurphy,  John,  237. 

McNish,  Rev.  George,  331. 

McPherson,  Hon.  J.  B.,  537n. 

McWhorter,  Dr.,  419. 

Madison,  James,  440,  442,  443, 
517. 

Magaw,  Col.  Robert,  473. 

Magill,  Rev.  Daniel,  380. 

Maguire,  Conor  Roe,  37. 

Maguire,  Cuconnaught,  11. 

Maine,  Sir  Henry,  54. 

Maitland,  Prof.  F.  W.,  135. 

Manning,  Rev.  James,  founder 
Brown    University,   456. 

Mar,  Earl  of,  91. 

Martin,   Alexander,  441,  442. 

Martin,  Gov.,  419. 

Martin,  I  uther,  441,  442. 

Maryland,  Ulster,  settlements 
in,  170,  176,  178,  181,  199;  re- 
ligious conditions,  179;  manu- 
factures, 180 


Mather,  Rev.  Cotton,  193,  221, 
292,  339,  341,  347,  350,  398. 

Mather,  Rev.  Increase,  190,  414. 

Mecklenburg  township,  200. 

Mecklenburg  Resolves,  474-476. 

Medes,  44, 

Middle  Shires  of  Great  Britain, 
86. 

Miller,  Col.  James,  245. 

Milton,  John,  138,  148,  328. 

Monk,  Gen.,   148. 

Montgomery,  John,  473. 

Mooney,  James,  ethnologist,  220. 

Moore,  Thomas,  55,  56. 

Morgan,  L.  H.,  ethnologist,  294. 

Morris,   Gov.   304. 

Motley,  John,  ancestor  of  his- 
torian,  231. 

Mount  joy,  see  Devonshire. 

Neal,  D.,  historian,  106,  110. 

Neill,  Rev.  Henry,  191. 

Neilson,    Rev.    Robert,    191. 

Nesbit,  Rev.  Charles,  President 
Dickinson,  455. 

Netherlands,  16. 

New  England,  165,  189,  193,  212, 
214;  Ulster  immigration,  221- 
248. 

Normans  in  Ireland,  53. 

North  Carolina,  199,  201,  218. 

Norway,  52. 

Nova  Scotia,  92. 

Nutfield  (afterwards  London- 
derry,  N.  H.),  236,  238. 

Nutman,  Rev.  John,  364. 

O'Cahan,    10. 

Ochiltree,  Lord,  84,  98,  99. 

O'Dogherty,  rebels,   12,  13,  83; 

seizes    Culmore,    14;    attacks 

Derry,  14;  slain,  15. 
O'Donnell,  Neale,  56. 
O'Donnell,    Rory,    see    Tyrcon- 

nel. 
O'Neill,   Hugh,  see   Tyrone. 
O'Neill,   Shane,   65. 
Orknevs,  96. 

Ormonde,  Lord  Deputy,  147. 
Ostend,   16. 

Pale,   Irish,  53,  72. 
Parke,  Robert,  270. 
Parker,    Rev.    E.   L.,  historian, 
239,  245. 


INDEX 


603 


Parthians,  44 

Paterson,  William,  441,  442. 
Patterson,  Robert,  288. 
Paulet,    Sir     George,     12;     at- 
tacked,  14;  killed,   15. 
Peace   of  Westphalia,   156. 
Peale,  C.  W.,  paints  Washing- 
ton's   portrait,    446. 
Pemberton,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  421, 

444. 
Penhallow,    S.,    historian,    299, 

301. 
Penn,  Gov.  John,  308,  311;  ac- 
count   of    Indian     atrocities, 
319,  322. 
Penn,  William,  261,  272,  293. 
Pennsylvania,     212,     248,     260, 

269,  477,  497. 
Pennsylvania   Line,   mutiny   of, 
526;    arrest    British    emissar- 
ies, 527. 
Pennsylvania   railroad,   531. 
Perry,    Prof.    A.    L.,    historian, 

232. 
Persians,  44. 
Peters,  Richard,  273. 
Peters,  Thomas,  500. 
Petty,  Sir  William,  statistician, 

152. 
Philip   II.   of  Spain,  9. 
Picts,  80,   91. 

Pierson,  Rev.  John,  362,  424. 
Piracy,  93-97,  207. 
Plunkett,   Col.   Richard,   145. 
Poland,  44,  74,  92. 
Pollard,   William,  500. 
Pope,  Gregory,  XIII.,  9. 
Population  of  colonies,  210,  265. 
Pownall,  Gov.,  231. 
Presbyterianism,  significance  of 
term,    328;    checked    in    New 
England,       338-359 ;       favors 
scholarship,     413;     promotes 
popular    education,   276,   289, 
415,  535. 
Presbyterian  church  in   Ulster, 
its  strict  discipline,  108,   109, 
158;  attitude  to  liberty,  139, 
157;  growth,  151;  suffers  un- 
der Charles  II.,  154;  compar- 
ative statistics,  161. 
Presbyterian    church   in    U.    S., 
origin,  329-337,  360-372,  531; 
expansion,  378-400. 
Presbyterian   ministers    of    Ul- 


ster, early  arrivals,  103;  ac- 
cept episcopal  ordination,  111, 
328;  repress  fanaticism,  113; 
separate  from  Established 
Church,  129;  refuse  to  swear 
allegiance  to  Commonwealth, 
148;  ejected  from  benefices, 
154;  active  against  James  II., 
155;  privy  censures,  159;  at- 
tempt to  emigrate,  165 ;  penal 
legislation  against,  187;  re- 
moving to  America,  188;  set- 
tling in  America,  199;  ar- 
rivals in  New  England,  330; 
in  Pennsylvania,  331;  re- 
proached for  levity,  350 ;  their 
number  in  America,  372;  see 
also,  Ulster. 

Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
their  racial  origins,  538. 

Princeton  University,  early  his- 
tory, 421-446,  educational  in- 
fluence, 447-457;  its  national 
character,  440;  graduates  in 
public  life,  441,  442,  443,  445 ; 
Nassau  Hall  pillaged,  445. 

Proud,  R.,  historian,  315. 

Pumroy,  Rev.  Samuel,  364. 

Puritans,  influence  in  Ulster, 
106,  110;  emigration  to  New 
England,  210,  524;  character- 
istics 326-388. 

Putnam,  Gen.,  494. 

Pynnar,  Nicholas,  117,  119,  122. 

Quakers,  their  pacificism,  302; 
neglect  of  public  defense, 
314;  Indian  policy,  316-323. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  21. 

Ralston,  David,  288. 

Randolph,  Edward,  complains 
of  Scotch  commerce,  169. 

Randolph,  Edmund,  442. 

Read,  George,  signer,  419. 

Reed,  Joseph,  mentioned,  313, 
441;  early  career,  479;  in 
Pennsylvania  Assembly,  480; 
cooperates  with  Mifflin  and 
Thomson,  482;  on  demoraliza- 
tion of  army,  496;  advises  at- 
tack on  Hessians  at  Trenton, 
499;  reconnoisance  at  Prince- 
ton, 500;  report  on  captures 
made,  501. 


604 


INDEX 


Reid,  Col.  George,  245. 

Reid,  J.  S.,  historian,  105,  141, 

145,  146,  151,  160. 
Reid,  Whitelaw,  538. 
Religious  liberty,  138. 
Rice,  Rev.  David,  451. 
Robert,  brigantine,  230,  236. 
Robin,  Abbe,  485. 
Robinson,   John,   288. 
Robinson,    Rev.    William,    382, 

417. 
Rochambeau,  Count  de,  485. 
Rodgers,  John,  418. 
Rogers,  Major  Robert,  244. 
Romans,  43,  44,  51. 
Rome,  church  of,  68-71,  161. 
Roosevelt,  T.,  historian,  523. 
Route    Presbytery,    191. 
Rowland,  Rev.  John,  417,  421. 
Rush,   Benjamin,  419,  441. 
Rush,  Judge  Jacob,  441. 
Russia,  76,  92. 
Rutledge,  John,  536. 

Sabine,  L.,  historian,  470. 

St.  Patrick,  49,  50. 

Salisbury,  Earl  of.,  see  Cecil. 

Sampson,  Rev.  Thomas,  326. 

Saxey,  chief-justice,  67. 

Saxons,  48,   121. 

Scalps,  bounties  for,  300,  305. 

Schools,  see  Educational  Insti- 
tutions. 

Scot,  George  of  Pitlochie,  177, 
250. 

Scotch-Irish,  origin,  1;  forma- 
tive influences,  129-161;  op- 
posed to  Rump  parliament, 
148;  threatened  with  deporta- 
tion, 148;  antagonized  by  gov- 
ernment, 150;  characteristics, 
151,  153,  157,  539;  religious 
practices,  158;  morals,  159; 
emigration  to  America,  165; 
first  settlements  in  America, 
170,  179,  181;  causes  of  exo- 
dus, 182-187;  start  of  emi- 
gration to  New  England,  189 ; 
attempts  to  restrain,  195-198; 
settlements  in  Pennsylvania, 
199,  248,  260-290;  effects  on 
population,  211;  volume  of 
immigration,  219;  manners 
and  customs,  239-244,  275, 
278-285;  religious  and  family 


discipline,  286-290 ;  feeling  to 
ward  Indians,  291-298;  Cones 
toga  massacre,  308-310 
march  on  Philadelphia,  311 
statement  of  grievances,  576 
establish  Presbyterian  church 
in  U.  S.,  325-331;  influence 
in  spreading  popular  educa- 
tion, 416-457;  start  movement 
for  Independence,  475;  domi- 
nant element  in  army,  468, 
498,  518;  propriety  of  term, 
520-521;  importance  as  a  fac- 
tor in  American  history, 
523-525;  decisive  influence  in 
American  struggle,  526;  in- 
fluence on  national  develop- 
ment, 528-533;  see  also,  Ul- 
ster. 
Scotch-Irish  Immigrants  men- 
tioned: Adams,  254;  Allan, 
216;  Alexander,  237,  247,  263; 
Allison,  237;  Anderson,  237; 
Armstrong,  216,  230,  231,  254, 
265;  Baird,  265;  Barnett,  237; 
Beattie,  251;  Beatty,  254; 
Blair,  227,  228,  229,  247; 
Blakely,  216;  Boise,  228; 
Bolton,  231;  Boyd,  254;  Brad- 
ley, 216;  Caldwell,  223,  227, 
229;  Carnahan,  228;  Carswell, 
254;  Clark,  228,  237,  238; 
Clendenin,  237;  Clinton,  251; 
Cochran,  228;  Craig,  265; 
Craighead,  189;  Crawford, 
226,  229,  236;  Crozier,  254; 
Cruickshank,  254 ;  Dickey, 
216;  Dobbins,  216;  Doak,  232; 
Duncan,  229;  Dunning,  236; 
Erwin,  216;  Ferguson,  228, 
229,  230;  Fisher,  207;  For- 
bush,  227;  Frierson,  216; 
Given,  236;  Glass  ford,  229; 
Gordon,  216;  Graham,  229, 
254,  265;  Graves,  236;  Gray, 
226,  229,  231,  232,  265;  Gregg, 
237;  Gyles,  231;  Hair,  265; 
Hamilton,  216,  229,  236; 
Harshaw,  253,  254;  Henry, 
228;  Henderson,  228,  254; 
Herroun,  228;  Hunter,  228; 
James,  216;  Jameson,  231; 
Jamison,  265;  Johnston,  236; 
Kelso,  229;  Kilpatrick,  247; 
Lemon,  216 ;  Long,  265 ;  Lytle, 


INDEX 


605 


254;  McAfee,  405;  McClellan, 
228,  229,  236;  McClelland,  216, 
254;  McClintock,  229;  Mc- 
Cook,  191 ;  McCoun,  236,  245 ; 
McCowen,  228 ;  McCracken, 
24T ;  McCrea,  254 ;  McDonald, 
216,  231;  McDougal,  254;  Mc- 
Dowell, 228;  McFadden,  236; 
McFarland,  229,  254;  McGee, 
405;  McGregor,  229;  Mc- 
Gowen,  236;  McKeen,  236; 
McKonkev,  229 ;  McLean, 
247;  McLellan,  231;  McMil- 
lan, 254 ;  McMurray,  255 ;  Mc- 
Nish,  255;  McRae,  216; 
McWhorter,  255 ;  Malcolm, 
236;  Matthews,  254;  Mitchell, 
237;  Morrison,  237,  247;  Ne- 
smith,  237;  Newton,  215;  Orr, 
232;  Patterson,  247;  Pennell, 
228;  Plowden,  216;  Polk,  213; 
Porter,  216;  Pressly,  216; 
Rankin,  229;  Reid,  245,  255; 
Rowan,  255;  Simpson,  236; 
Steele,  237,  255;  Stevenson, 
255;  Sterrett,  237;  Stewart, 
237,  255,  265;  Stuart,  216; 
Syne,  216;  Taggart,  228;  Vin- 
cent, 236 ;  Wallace,  265 ;  Wat- 
son, 228;  Ward,  236;  Wear, 
232;  Weir,  237,  265;  Wil- 
liams, 255;  Wilson,  216,  228; 
Witherspoon,  206,  216. 

Scotland,  ethnic  origins,  80; 
language,  82 ;  suppressing  dis- 
order, 84-89;  purging  the 
Borders,  86-89 ;  migrations 
from,  92;  easy  access  to  Ul- 
ster, 93;  action  against  pi- 
rates, 95 ;  transportation 
rates,  100;  trade  with  Amer- 
ica, 169;  Darien  expedition, 
170;  emigration,  177,  205,  378; 
legislation  against  Ireland, 
183;  colony  at  Port  Royal, 
215;  devotion  to  education, 
533. 

Scott,"  Sir  Walter,  61,  88,  92. 

Scottish  Privy  Council,  34. 

Septs,  2. 

Servitors,  23,  35. 

Sevier,  Col.  John,  508. 

Sewall,  Samuel,  221. 

Shanachies,  73. 

Shelby,  Col.  Isaac,  508. 


Shippen,  Joseph,  Jr.,  441. 

Shute,  Gov.  petition  to,  191. 

Sidgwick,  H.,  historian,  63,  130. 

Smith,  James,  signer,  419. 

Smith,  Rev.  Joseph,  452. 

Smith,  J.  B.,  Jr.,  447. 

Smith,  Matthew,  312. 

Smith,  Robert,  418. 

Smith,   Samuel,  historian,  250. 

Smith,    Rev.   S.   S.,  447,   448. 

Smith,  William,  trustee,  424. 

Smith,  W.  Peartree,  trustee, 
424. 

Sorning,    85, 

South  Carolina,  212,  214,  216. 

Spain,  9,   143. 

Stark,  Gen.  John,  244;  his  ca- 
reer, 503;  wins  battle  of  Ben- 
nington, 505. 

Starved  ship,  207. 

State,  modern,  6;  formation  of, 
62,  134,  136. 

Steelboy  Insurrection,  459. 

Stevens,  Col.  William,  173,  174. 

Stewart,  Rev.  Andrew,  histor- 
ian, 101,   103,  120. 

Stewart,  Capt.  John,  196. 

Stirling,   Lord,   92. 

Stobo,   Rev.    Alexander,   378. 

Stockton,  Richard,  signer,  441. 

Stone,  Gov.  William,  171. 

Strabane  Presbytery,  375. 

Strafford,  suppresses  piracy,  97 ; 
Lord  Deputy,  129;  his  policy, 
130-136,  140,  184;  beheaded, 
141. 

Sueves,  53. 

Sweden,  52,  74,  76,  93. 

Swordmen,  63. 

Taylor,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  331. 

Tanistry,   74. 

Tara,  Hill  of,  44. 

Teatte,  Rev.  James,  191. 

Temple,  Capt.  Robert,  233-236. 

Thirty  Years'  War,  156. 

Thomas,  Gov.,  317. 

Thomson,  Charles,  early  career, 
481;  political  leader,  482,  483; 
secretary  of  congress,  484; 
his  historical  account  de- 
stroyed, 485;  connection  with 
Declaration  of  Independence, 
487;  opinion  of  Penna.  revo- 
lution, 497. 


606 


INDEX 


Thomson,   Rev.  James,   191. 

Thornton,  Matthew,  signer,  229. 

Torture,  125,  296. 

Traill,  H.  D.,  historian,  134. 

Traill,  Rev.  William,  172. 

Trumbull,  Gov.,  499. 

Tuesday,  day  of  English  luck, 

16. 
Tyrconnel,  Earl  of,  10,  11. 
Tyrone,  Earl  of,  8-11. 
Tyrone  Presbytery,  195. 
Tunis,  93. 
Turks,  93. 

Ulster,  General  Synod,  187,  193, 
306;  collects  money  for 
Princeton,   434-436. 

Ulster  Nativity,  American  cler- 
gymen of:  Allison,  Francis, 
418;  Beatty,  Charles,  405,  409, 
417;  Black,  Samuel,  387; 
Blair,  John,  383,  417;  Blair, 
Samuel,  384,  386,  417,  418, 
425;  Boyd,  Adam,  369;  Camp- 
bell, Alexander,  412;  Camp- 
bell, Hugh,  353;  Clark,  Mat- 
thew, 238;  Clark,  Thomas, 
253;  Craig,  John,  381;  Craig- 
head, Thomas,  189,  338 ;  Davis, 
Samuel,  331;  Dorrance,  Sam- 
uel, 351;  Dunlap,  Robert, 
353;  Dunlop,  Samuel,  257; 
Finley,  James,  410,  418;  Fin- 
ley,  Samuel,  419,  425 ;  Gelston, 
Samuel,  380;  Hampton,  John, 
331,  334;  Hemphill,  Samuel, 
374;  Henry,  Hugh,  353;  Her- 
on, Robert,  216;  Hillhouse, 
James,  350;  Homes,  William, 
189,  338;  Houston,  Joseph, 
363;  Jarvie,  John,  187;  John- 
ston, William,  344;  McCook, 
Archibald,  370 ;  McGregor, 
James,  237,  346;  McKee,  Jo- 
sias,  178;  Makemie,  Francis, 
175,  331,  333,  364;  Marshall, 
Robert,  405;  Miller,  Alexan- 
der, 387;  Moorhead,  John, 
359;  Roan,  John,  384,  417; 
Rutherford,  Robert,  353; 
Steele,  John,  410;  Stevenson, 
Hugh,  370;  Tennent,  Charles, 
368;  Tennent,  Gilbert,  367, 
384,  398,  414,  425,  430;  Ten- 
nent, William,  266,  365,  416, 


424;    Tennent,    William,    Jr., 

368,  425,  437;  Thompson, , 

354;  Traill,  William,  172; 
Waddel,  James,  392;  419; 
Wilson,  John,  371;  Wilson, 
Thomas,  173 ;  Woodside, 
James,  349. 

Ulster  Plantation,  projected  1- 
5;  first  plan,  22;  orders  and 
conditions,  25;  Scottish  par- 
ticipation, 33;  allotments,  37- 
40;  chronological  record  40- 
41;  morality  of  settlers,  101- 
108;  early  conditions,  114; 
physical  geography,  115;  pop- 
ulation, 118;  Scotch  predomi- 
nate, 118,  126,  127,  153;  Irish 
natives  retained,  121-124; 
perils  of  settlers,  125;  the 
Black  Oath,  140;  flax  intro- 
duced, 141;  massacres,  143; 
civil  war,  147;  close  of  pio- 
neer period,  151 ;  economic 
causes  of  emigration,  168; 
agrarian  disorders,  458;  sym- 
pathy with  America,  462; 
high  standard  of  literacy,  535. 

Ulster  Scots,  see  Scotch-Irish. 

Undertakers,  the,  Bacon,  on,  2- 
5 ;  Scotch  applications,  34 ;  ob- 
ligations of,  36;  Scottish  list, 
98,  548;  character  of  English, 
119. 

United  Irishmen  movement,  464. 

Venetians,  94,  133. 
Vergil,  43. 
Visigoths,  50. 
Voltaire,  132. 

Waldo,  Samuel,  247. 

Ward,  John,  pirate,  94. 

Washington,  Gen.,  portrait  for 
Nassau  Hall,  446;  gift  to 
Washington  Academy,  449 ; 
contributed  to  Kentucky 
Academy,  452;  Boston  cam- 
paign, 494;  in  New  York  and 
Jerseys,  496;  surprises  Hes- 
sians at  Trenton,  500;  battle 
of  Princeton,  501 ;  defeated  at 
Brandy  wine,  502;  regarded 
American  success  as  almost 
a  miracle,  526. 

Watson,  J.  F.,  historian,  267. 


INDEX 


607 


Watson,  John,  President  of  Jef- 
ferson College,  454. 

Webb,  Rev.  Joseph,  363. 

Webster,  Rev.  Richard,  histor- 
ian, 325,  372. 

Wentworth,  see  Strafford. 

West  Indies,  28. 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  333, 
367,  398,  416,  419,  421,  433. 

Widcairn,  see  Kerns. 

Williams,  Rev.  John,  299. 

Williamsburgh  township,  N.  C, 
201,  216. 

Wilson,  James,  statesman,  412, 
518. 

Wilson,  Rev.  John,  331. 

Wilson,  Rev.  Samuel,  286. 

Wilson,  Rev.  Thomas,  173. 

Winthrop,  John,  193,  222. 


Wirt,  William,  account  of  Wad- 
del's  oratory,  393. 

Witherspoon,  Rev.  Dr.  John, 
President  of  Princeton,  438- 
441,  465. 

Wolves  in  Ireland,  114,  116,  117. 

Woodburn,  Rev.  J.  B.,  histor- 
ian, 127n.,  144. 

Woodburn,  Mrs.  Margaret,  207. 

Woodside,  Rev.  James,  account 
of  Indian  raid,  235. 

Young,  Arthur,  economist,  202, 

208. 
Young,  John,  oldest  immigrant, 


Zante,  94. 


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